VA Aid and Attendance, also known as Veterans Pension, is a benefit available to couples or widowed spouses of veterans that served during a qualifying wartime period and need assistance with the activities of daily living. Your qualification for this benefit will depend on the level of assistance you require, your income, and your assets. If qualified, you may obtain a maximum of $2,200 a month from the VA to assist with your monthly expenses or help defray the cost of long-term care or assisted living.
The VA Aid and Attendance application process is quite rigorous and data suggests that less than 5% of applicants actually qualify for any benefits. In addition, less than 5% of those applicants receive the maximum benefit mentioned above. Although the application process can be difficult, we are here to help you through the process to ensure you have all the documentation necessary for a successful application.
A “Fully-Developed” Aid and Attendance Claim
To apply for VA Aid and Attendance, we first need to obtain information from you including marriage certificates, divorce decrees (if applicable), financial information, asset information, and property information. Providing all this information will help us to create what is called a “fully-developed claim.” If your application is missing some information, this can delay your application or cause it to be denied. So having a fully-developed claim is extremely important as it will significantly increase your chances of being approved in a timely manner. Once the application is complete, we’ll send it to the VA for you.
If we submit a fully-developed claim today for you, the VA “date of application” will be deemed as the first day of the following month. This is important to note if anything changes or anyone passes during the application process. If a parent passes during the application process, you won’t be able to obtain retroactive benefits for the deceased, although you may obtain retroactive benefits for surviving applicants from the date of application.
Once the fully-developed claim is sent to the VA, they will likely send you a letter within 45 days notifying that they have received your application. If you don’t receive that notification, you should contact the VA as soon as possible to see what might be causing delays with your application. Unfortunately, we cannot contact the VA on your behalf. You or an appointed family member will have to contact them to determine what might be causing the delay.
The VA may also send you a letter with additional questions regarding marriages, divorces, or financial affairs. If you receive a letter like this, you should contact us immediately so we can prepare the proper documents in a timely manner. Deadlines are extremely important during this application process, and we want to ensure your application is not declined due to missing a deadline. These additional letters sent by the VA also reinforce the importance of providing all the correct information to them initially.
Although the VA Aid and Attendance application process can be tedious, it is definitely worth the time if you are a veteran or veteran’s spouse that needs financial assistance. We are here to help you through the process to make sure that all the documents are filed correctly and in a timely manner. Please give us a call or complete this form so we can assist with your application today.
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