The benefit of aid and attendance is often misunderstood and under-utilized. Many individuals feel that in order to obtain this benefit, they must actually have been in combat. The veterans benefit requires only that the military person served at least one day of ninety days of active duty during a period of war. There is no specific requirement that the person had to have been in direct combat.
However, a person who is in the National Guard, military reservist, or was in active duty training for active military may not qualify for this benefit.
A person who is obtaining military retirement pay may not receive compensation as well. Retirement pay is reduced by the amount of compensation that person may be receiving. A veteran or the qualifying spouse, who may be residing in a nursing facility, may not receive a full payment of the pension if the person is eligible for Medicaid.
In those situations, the benefit is reduced to ninety dollars a month. But in many states, this amount may be retained by the Medicaid recipient in addition to the allowance for a personal needs allowance for that particular state. In order to obtain this benefit, if the veteran is younger than sixty-five years old, he or she must be totally disabled, and the burden to prove disability lies with the applicant. If the person is receiving Social Security Disability, that is evidence of disability for Veterans Administration purposes. Please note that a single surviving spouse does not need to be disabled, regardless of age.
There are many issues regarding aid and attendance that need to be reviewed, including the income test, the asset test, and ratings; and in some cases, the non-veteran spouse of a healthy veteran may be entitled to benefits.
Very often, it is more appropriate to have the person at home obtain these benefits so that they may stay at home, and together with other income, such as some form of long-term care insurance, or their own assets, which may include funds received from a reverse mortgage, they will be able to stay at home rather than becoming institutionalized.
By: Hyman G. Darling, Esq.
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