Veterans Affairs

During the conflicts in the Middle East over the last couple few decades, burn pits were rampant. These burn pits were used to dispose of a wide range of solid waste and other materials that probably shouldn’t have been burned. As a result, many of our Veterans were exposed to toxic fumes and are now […]

In this blog I wanted to share a couple examples of the issues we face on a daily basis as we try to get our Veteran clients the benefits they deserve. Filing claims and appeals with the VA can be tiresome, but we continue to fight for the rights of our Veterans so that they

Over the years we’ve met and helped many Veterans get the disability benefits they deserve. But the application process for VA disability benefits is rarely smooth and effortless. They always ask for more information and a plethora of evidence that proves that an injury or illness is related to the Veterans service. Below we’ve outlined

A recent article from the Washington Post explains a concerning report coming from the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center. This report was called the Discretionary Injustice Review and involved reviewing over 1 million military releases. The report explains that compared to white service members, African Americans are 5.5x more likely to receive a dishonorable discharge in

Are you a recipient of VA Aid & Attendance (VA Pension) or DIC benefits? Have you recently gotten a letter requesting more information about your claim? Or maybe you’ve received a letter regarding VA benefits reduction? This has been happening a lot lately, especially since the VA staff are back in their offices after the

We’ve had a lot of comments and questions on one of recent spousal benefits videos, so I wanted to take this opportunity to provide a little refresher course. Everyone is concerned about their spouse if something happens to them — especially Veterans. Most Veterans feel like they’re going to be okay with the benefits they’re

In this blog I wanted to discuss some recent developments with regards to agent orange claims for Vietnam Veterans and the persistent denial of these claims by the VA. There are three conditions, which we’ll discuss below, for which the VA has consistently denied agent orange claims without much explanation. Veterans need the VA to

Recently many of our clients have been receiving letters from the VA regarding their pension or disability benefits. You or your spouse may have also received a VA letter saying they were going to adjust your benefit. In this blog we’ll go through a few of the letters our clients have received and discuss how

In a previous blog we talked about the VA’s definition of a spouse for VA benefit purposes. But to be considered a Veteran “surviving spouse,” you must still be married to the Veteran at the time of the Veteran’s death. Given this definition, it makes sense that a spouse would be denied surviving spouse benefits

We discussed some of the details of the PACT Act in a previous blog, but we wanted to expand on that discussion here with respect to Veteran spouses, children, or dependents. We’ve been receiving lots of questions lately regarding presumptive conditions, how the PACT Act affects Veteran spouses and dependents, and whether they are now

If you listen to the radio or watch much television, I am quite sure that you’ve heard about the water contamination that happened at Camp Lejeune. There has been quite the influx of advertising and offers lately asking folks to call an 800 number to receive compensation. Part of the offer is true, and part

If you are a Veteran with a service-connected injury, you likely are already receiving disability benefits through the VA. Maybe you’re only rated 60% or 70% disabled when you’re actually closer to 100% disabled? Did you know that you could increase this disability rating based on your employability? Here we’ll discuss all the details of

Congress recently passed and the President just signed what is being labeled as the largest VA healthcare benefit expansion in VA history. The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Act to Support Veterans Exposed to Toxic Substances, also known as the PACT Act, creates some pretty significant changes in benefits available to Veterans who

Lately we’ve been getting a lot of questions about Veteran spousal programs. Veterans want to know that their spouse or children will be okay if something happens to them. Spouses or children are also curious whether they are entitled to any benefits if something has happened or could happen to their Veteran loved one. In

On a previous blog we discussed the new Veteran legislation in Congress regarding burn pit and toxic exposures for service members. That Veteran legislation has recently become contentious due to some accounting issues. The politicians are fighting over the money being spent in the bill and how to account for all the spending. The Promise

We’ve talked about Veteran and spousal benefits in many of our previous blogs, but have never really addressed Veteran caregivers. So I wanted to use this blog as an opportunity to discuss several programs that the VA has for family caregivers of Veterans. These programs can be very useful for Veteran caregivers and can also

We get asked quite often about the VA 5 Year Rule and if the VA can indeed change your disability rating and subsequently your benefits over time. So I wanted to use this blog as an opportunity to explain the VA 5 Year Rule as it relates to Disability Indemnity Compensation. We’ll also discuss some

Did you know that you can lose your VA Aid and Attendance (aka VA pension) award after receiving benefits for several years? Did you know that you could also owe the VA significant sums of money if you do lose your pension? It’s true. We see it happen all the time as a result of

I wanted to use this blog as an opportunity to share some recent news regarding VA benefits and a new Burn Pit Bill that is being passed through Congress currently. This new “Burn Pit Bill” includes provisions that will allow more Veterans to receive disability benefits for conditions they are suffering as a result of

We receive quite a few questions on our YouTube channel and emails regarding VA spousal benefits. Many of these questions are from Veterans who are currently receiving DIC (disability indemnity compensation) or VA pension (Aid & Attendance). These Veterans are concerned about their husband or wife receiving VA spousal benefits if something happens to them.

Are you a Veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom? If so, there are new benefits available to those Veterans who were exposed to Iraq burn pits during their service. Thankfully, we know much more about respiratory diseases and cancers today than we did even 20 years ago. And the VA has now recognized that

We recently received a couple of letters through our dearvaguy@gmail.com email service regarding benefits for spouses of deceased Veterans. Spousal VA benefits are often very complicated and we frequently have to go through every exception possible to obtain those benefits for spouses of deceased Veterans. Hopefully the letters and responses below will help you determine

In a previous blog, we’ve discussed obtaining PTSD disability benefits through the VA. This benefit is called Disability Indemnity Compensation or DIC. Obtaining DIC benefits for PTSD can be tricky, but it is especially tricky if you were involved in Special Operations during your military service. Below we’ll provide some examples and tips for obtaining

Submitting an application for VA pension benefits can be overwhelming for most. There is a considerable amount of information that you have to provide to VA, but being as thorough as possible is to your benefit. The VA will usually try to find any reason at all to reject your application or request more information

We recently received an email from a woman who had some questions regarding VA pension benefits for the surviving spouse of a Veteran. She had seen one of our YouTube videos on the subject and we’re so glad that we are now able to help her obtain the benefits that she deserves as a result

We had a comment on one of our videos a couple weeks ago asking about survivor benefits for spouses and dependents of Veterans. They wanted to know specifically what VA survivor benefits are available to them, and how they would they ensure that they continued to receive the VA benefits after their Veteran had passed.

What is a Veteran? What are the Veteran Qualifications as determined by the VA? You make think that’s a pretty simple question, but it can actually be pretty complex. There’s obviously the common usage of the term “veteran” that we use in everyday conversation. But I want to specifically discuss how the VA defines a

One of the primary goals of our blogs and videos is to keep you updated on changes in policies that will affect you or your loved ones. We’ve recently been made aware of some upcoming Medicare premium changes that will affect those receiving VA benefits, Social Security, and Medicare. These include cost of living adjustments

Through our dearvaguy@gmail.com email service, we frequently receive letters from widows or divorced couples who are concerned about their VA Pension eligibility and changes as a result of death or divorce. Below are some recent letters that we have received. These are common questions that our office receives on a regular basis. We hope you