My 46 Page VA Improved Pension Guide is Out!

If you found me from the article in the Florida Times Union about VA Improved Pension benefits then you are probably looking for the guide or pamphlet mentioned in the article.

My 46 Page Educational, Long Term Care Guide for Veterans and their Families is found at:

http://www.veteranscareguide.com

Thank you for your interest!  If you like my guide feel free to drop by my Facebook page and let me know!

New Increased VA Improved Pension with Aid and Attendance Rates

Happy Holidays! Good news from congress (really), the improved pension rates, including, aid and attendance, has risen today, December 1, 2011. The new rates are as follows:

Single Veteran	$1,704
Married Veteran	$2,020
Widowed Surviving Spouse	$1,094

The VA improved pension benefit allows qualifying veterans to receive a tax free monthly benefit to help cover the costs of long term care such as in home caregivers (including family caregivers), assisted living costs, and nursing home costs. I have helped Jacksonville, Florida families qualify for VA aid and attendance, and I can attest to the incredible relief that a family gets when they qualify for the monthly aid and attendance benefit.

For veterans receiving the benefit, you will see the increase starting on January 2012 VA improved pension benefit check.

If you are a Jacksonville, Florida resident with a family member in need of assistance with long term care costs, visit my VA aid and attendance information page on my website about the requirements to qualify or give my office a call.

What is VA Aid and Attendance Planning?

VA aid and attendance pension planning is a method to provide elderly veterans cash, tax free, to pay for in-home care or assisted living care while preserving the veteran's assets.

VA pension benefits (aid and attendance) is an income based benefit for veterans and not based on service connected injuries.

Instead of using your assets to pay for home health care or assisted living, you can preserve your retirement savings for your family while being able to receive long term health care in your home.  The VA pays you directly to compensate the claimant for long term care services.  VA aid and attendance is an income and asset based benefit, thus assets and your income may need to be restructured if your income and assets reach a certain level.  Further, be cautious about working with non-attorneys because the need for Florida Medicaid to pay for nursing home care in the future may be compromised if the person assisting you with obtaining VA aid and attendance does not consider Medicaid ramifications.  I am a Jacksonville, Florida elder law attorney that can coordinate these benefits

You can learn the specifics of VA aid and attendance planning in Florida in this blog.

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Income Countable for VA Pension Benefit Purposes

This post is the second part of a three part series.  The purpose of this series of posts related to income is to help us create a formula for income for VA pension purposes.  The VA pension is a need based benefit, with an income level qualifier.  First, I discussed the income limits in order to obtain VA pension benefits. 

In this post you will learn what items that you count for VA pension benefit purposes.  You will add up the dollar amount for each income stream to arrive at the number that you will need to bring down in order to increase you benefit payout.

Unfortunately, the VA counts income from a broad amount of income sources.  The VA counts "payments from any kind from any source shall be counted as income during the 12-month annualization period in which received unless specifically excluded under §3.272."  38 CFR 3.271.

The common income streams that the VA counts are social security payments, pension payments, rent from rental properties, salary before any taxes are taken out, stock dividends, profits from a business, income from trusts, an inheritance, and interest from CDs.  There is an exception for money gifts if the cash is used for paying health costs for the veteran.

Strangely enough, you will have to look in the future for 12 months to see what you will make.  This task becomes tricky when you are dealing with fluctuating business profits and losses, varying dividend and rental payments, and infrequent interest payments.

Items that do not count as income generally include: cash out value of life insurance policies attributed to premium payments, the cash in value of savings bonds, profits from the sale of property, and the value of free or donated room and board for the veteran.

Basically, you count all income coming in.  One of the keys to qualification is the subject of my next post on deductions from countable income.

Kellen Bryant, Esquire, is a Jacksonville, Florida elder care attorney specializing in VA aid and attendance benefits.

Income Limits to Qualify VA Pension Beneifts

This post is the first part of a three part series.  In this post you will learn if you make, or will make, too much money to qualify for VA pension benefits.  But don't dismiss your ability to collect VA pension benefits based on the limits you read here.  The second post discusses what types of income streams count towards this income limit.  The third post will discuss what items that you subtract from your income for VA pension benefit purposes, which could leave you with $0 income.

Well, this first part of the series is relatively simple.  If you apply for non-service connected pension benefits from the VA, you need to have made less income than the benefit amount for the year.  For example, if you are an unmarried veteran seeking housebound benefits, which is $ 14,457, you must have an income less than $ 14,457 to receive the VA pension benefit.  Therefore, you cannot claim VA pension benefits if your countable income exceeds the benefit you are seeking.

Take your income, determine which type of VA pension benefit you seek (whether the basic VA pension benefit, housebound, or aid and attendance), and subtract your income from the benefit amount that you seek.  The result will be the amount of benefit you will receive from the VA.

In the future posts, you will learn how your income can be reduced for the purposes of your VA pension benefits application.  What you perceive as income may not be counted as income for VA pension purposes or you may be able to take deductions from the income.  Either method will result in you receiving additional cash to pay for long term health care expenses.   


Kellen Bryant, Esquire, is a Jacksonville, Florida elder care lawyer specializing in VA aid and attendance benefits.

Denial of VA Pension for High Income

If you have read about VA pension benefits in this blog or elsewhere, you might have decided to apply to the VA office for these benefits.  You read that you could qualify based on your war time service and non-dishonorable discharge.  You fill out the long VA pension application form and provide all supporting documentation.  But unfortunately and to your surprise, the VA says you make too much income and your claim for benefits are denied.

What are you to do if you live in Florida your claim for VA pension benefits are denied because the VA thinks you make too much money?

First, you are not dead in the water forever.  You have the ability to resubmit your application with new evidence showing that you are entitled to the VA pension benefit.  Thus, you can submit new information showing that you actually have less income than previously report.

How do you have less income after the fact?

A Florida elder law attorney can assist you in obtaining the aid and attendance benefits even after you are denied..  Your out of pocket medical expenses may not have been reported as high as you could have reported the income.  Also, your assets and income can be reduced through planned giving to your family, friends, or charities of your income streams and assets to put you in a position to qualify for benefits.

Why would I want to give all my money away to get these VA pension benefits?

I have discussed why you should care about aid and attendance benefits. But you can do the math yourself.  What is my income stream from the assets the VA says that make me ineligible for the benefits?  What is the income I could expect from the pension benefits for basic pension, housebound benefits, and aid and attendance?  If the benefits from the VA produce a higher income stream, why not give it to whom you want during your lifetime instead of seeing go to your health care providers?  You can have the option to set up a trust that will control how your beneficiaries will receive their inheritance, and you can see the pleasure from your gift during your lifetime instead of when you pass away.

Kellen Bryant, Esquire, is a Jacksonville, Florida elder care attorney specializing in VA aid and attendance benefits.

Aid and Attendance VA Pension Benefit Amount

This post is the last of a series of three posts explaining the amount of money a veteran can receive from the VA to pay for medical care.  The first level of VA payout is basic pension: this is the smallest amount of VA pension amount available to a qualified veteran or a surviving spouse of a veteran.  The next level is housebound VA benefits.  Housebound carries a higher level of medical proof and a condition that shows need.  Now we are at the final level of benefits available to a veteran:  aid and attendance benefits.

The aid and attendance benefit requires an even higher showing of physical need than the housebound benefits.  More on the qualification requirements in a future posts.  The aid and attendance VA pension benefit is the highest cash payout that the veteran's pension benefit law provides.  The cash benefits for 2010 aid and attendance pension are:

1. Veteran with a dependent - Annually $23,396 or Monthly $1,949;
2. Single Veteran - Annually  $19,736 or Monthly $1,644;
3. Surviving Spouse - Annually $12,672 or Monthly $1,056; and
4. Surviving Spouse w/dependent - Annually $14,692 or Monthly $1,224.

As you see the cash benefits directly payable to the qualified veteran or surviving spouse are quite nice considering that one does not have to work for the money.  A million dollars in a savings account will not yield this kind of income.