(

a) A person otherwise eligible under this

article who is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient may apply for special license plates for the vehicle under this article. The special license plates assigned to the vehicle shall run in a separate numerical series and shall have inscribed on the license plate the words “Congressional Medal of Honor” or “Medal of Honor.” The department shall reserve and issue the special license plates to all applicants providing the proof required by subdivision (b). (

b) The applicant shall, by satisfactory proof, show that the applicant is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. (

c) Special license plates may be issued pursuant to subdivision (

a) only for a vehicle owned or coowned by a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. (

d) Upon the death of a person issued special license plates pursuant to this section, his or her surviving spouse may retain the special license plates subject to the conditions set forth in this section. If there is no surviving spouse, the special license plates shall be returned to the department either within days following that death, or upon the expiration date of the vehicle registration, whichever date occurs first.

However, in the absence of a surviving spouse, a member of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipient’s family may retain one of the special license plates as a family heirloom, subject to the conditions set forth in subdivision (h), upon submitting an affidavit to the department agreeing not to attempt to use the special license plates for vehicle registration purposes. (

e) If a surviving spouse who has elected to retain the special license plates as authorized under subdivision (

d) dies while in possession of the special license plates, the special license plates shall be returned to the department either within days following that death, or upon the expiration date of the vehicle registration, whichever date occurs first. However, a member of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipient’s family may retain one of the special license plates as a family heirloom, subject to the conditions set forth in subdivision (h), upon submitting an affidavit to the department agreeing not to attempt to use the special license plates for vehicle registration purposes. (

f) A vehicle exempted from fees by

Section and by

Section of the Revenue and Taxation Code shall lose the exemption upon the death of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, except that if a surviving spouse elects to retain the special license plates as authorized under subdivision (d), the exemption pursuant to

Section 9105, and

Section 10783.2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, shall extend until the death of that spouse. (

g) Sections and do not apply to this section. (

h) The special license plates issued under this

section are not valid for use for vehicle registration purposes or for the purposes of

Section or

Section or 10783.2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code by a person other than the person issued the special license plates under subdivision (

a) and the surviving spouse of that person. (

i) For the purposes of this section, “family” means grandparents, stepgrandparents, parents, stepparents, siblings, stepsiblings, children, and stepchildren of the person issued the special license plates under subdivision (a).