In order to qualify for the Aid & Attendance pension, the Veteran or Spouse cannot own assets that exceed the VA’s limit of $159,000. If they do own more than $159,000 then the VA will decline the benefit.
It is important to remember that the Aid & Attendance Pension is a benefit our Wartime Veterans have earned. It is not a welfare benefit like Medicaid. It is also important to remember that the national average cost to live in an assisted living community is about $66,000 per year. It’s certainly not cheap.
In October of 2018 the VA implemented a regulation / law that allows them to look back 3 years at a Veteran family’s estate when they apply for Aid & Attendance. The VA is looking to see if the Veteran or Spouse has transferred any assets out of their name, set up any trusts that hold assets or gifted any money to family members.
Unfortunately, if the Veteran family has done this type of estate planning, prior to applying for Aid & Attendance, then the VA will either decline the benefit or impose a penalty period on the Veteran family, which makes them have to wait several months or years before they are qualified to receive the benefit.
Please keep in mind that these estate planning practices are legal, smart, ethical and are practiced by millions of Americans during their retirement years or when they are approaching their retirement years. The 3 year look back on the estates of our Veteran families is preventing thousands of Veterans and Spouses from qualifying and obtaining a benefit that they have earned, deserve and desperately need.
At Senior Living Solutions, LLC, we believe that because the Aid & Attendance Pension is a benefit our wartime heroes have earned, they should not be declined Aid & Attendance because they were frugal and saved some money throughout their lives. In addition, they certainly should not be penalized for practicing routine, legal, smart and healthy estate planning, just like millions of other Americans do.
We firmly believe that ALL of our Wartime Veterans and their Spouses should be awarded this life-changing benefit to help pay for the extremely high costs of senior living, as it was meant to do when it was established in 1952.
Senior Living Solutions partners with an outstanding team of VA Accredited Attorneys. Together, we have figured out legal methods and planning techniques that the VA will not consider to be a gift or a transfer. This allows our Veteran families to qualify immediately, even though they contacted us with assets that exceed the VA’s limit of $159,000.
Our team of experts is able to help the family make legal and ethical changes to their estate, qualify the Veteran / Spouse immediately, comply with the VA’s laws and regulations and not trigger the 3-year look back or penalty period.
Since 2018, we have been able to help hundreds of Veteran families qualify and obtain the Aid & Attendance Pension, even though they were above the VA’s asset limit when they contacted us.
A Veteran family should never disqualify themselves because they exceed the VA’s asset limit. We offer a free phone consultation to all Veteran families, so it is important that Veteran families take advantage of that consultation, learn how to qualify immediately and obtain the pension benefit they have rightfully earned.
CALL TODAY: 1-877-896-0181