My mother is not a wealthy woman. After assessing checking, savings, insurance policies, investments and bonds, let's just say she would outlast her funds in a short period of time.
I was made aware of Veteran's Assistance after my Mom had already been living for six months at an assisted living facility. While that scenario is no longer, she could have afforded the monthly fee between VA benefits, her pension and social security.
In the meantime, after getting gut punched with news that we had to find a new facility for Mom due to various reasons, I let another six months pass before attempting to get VA benefits. It was just so overwhelming. I didn't know where to begin the process.
You Should Never Have to Pay to Receive VA Benefits
Where the company that would originally have helped guide me through the process when Mom was at the first facility, now was going to charge me a fee for their services. This just didn't sound right to me. I went to an attorney who gave us a free consultation of how we could do an estate plan that would save the house for my brother and still be able to spend down Mom's money before applying for Medicaid. For 10 thousand dollars, we could do this plus they would fill out all paperwork for filing for Medicaid and my brother would keep the house. It was exactly what we needed.
Before committing to this, I wanted to hear from another lawyer. Again, we had a free consultation. Unfortunately, that attorney said due to the way Mom's will was written, we didn't have the authority to create an estate plan. Which lawyer was correct? What if I had spent the 10 thousand and then was told we couldn't do the estate plan? Would be just have gotten an, "Oops," from the attorney?
Why I was so afraid of filling out paperwork for VA on my own, I have no idea. However, when I called the second lawyer with a question and then she wanted to meet with me and my husband to discuss my questions, that cost me $500.
$500? That was just a half hour. I quickly realized this could cost me a fortune by the time we were done. At that point I thought to myself how ridiculous this all was and called the VA office in the district my mother's new facility was located.
God must have intervened as the lady I contacted walked me through each step, let me send in the required documents piecemeal and once everything was received, filled out the paperwork and sent it into the proper VA office. Voila!Don't get me wrong. There were many other steps and procedures and hoops I had to jump through before all was said and done, but I got 'er done.
The VA became my hero.
Not Everyone Qualifies for VA
- The person or their spouse had to serve during a war.
- If it was the person's spouse who was a veteran, the surviving person cannot have remarried.
- It depends on the type of facility your loved one is living in.
- You can't have over a particular amount of money.
The above items are just some things I remember, but see below for link to do your own research.
https://explore.va.gov/pension/spouses-dependents-survivors
Depending on how long my mother lives, we will still most likely have to apply for Medicaid in the end. But the VA Pension has definitely helped push that date a little farther into the future.
It's been an interesting journey. And I am very thankful for everyone I have dealt with at the VA in their guidance through this process. Each member was very knowledgeable, polite and went the extra mile in helping me through the entire process from beginning to end.
Depending on how long my mother lives, we will still most likely have to apply for Medicaid in the end. But the VA Pension has definitely helped push that date a little farther into the future.
It's been an interesting journey. And I am very thankful for everyone I have dealt with at the VA in their guidance through this process. Each member was very knowledgeable, polite and went the extra mile in helping me through the entire process from beginning to end.
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