A veterans benefits attorney at Frank & Kraft can provide personalized assistance to veterans and their families in taking steps to qualify for aid & attendance benefits. Veterans may be entitled to receive many important benefits as they age as a result of their selfless service.
Many of these benefits can be invaluable to aging veterans who may need costly care when they develop age-related disabilities or become hurt or sick. Navigating the VA system to obtain benefits and services can be extremely complicated, so getting legal help is of paramount importance to obtain everything you deserve for serving your country.
Frank & Kraft works with veterans and their families to both understand the full array of benefits they are entitled to — including aid & attendance benefits — and to take the right steps to quickly obtain those benefits. If you or a loved one served in the military and you want assistance getting the benefits you deserve, give us a call today.
How Does a Veteran Qualify for Aid and Attendance?
Veterans typically receive a military pension. Aid & attendance benefits and housebound benefits can both result in an eligible veteran receiving a larger monthly pension. The pension for a veteran is increased when the veteran becomes eligible for aid & attendance benefits in order to help the veteran to defray the cost of care that he or she needs.
But, not every veteran is eligible for aid & attendance benefits. A veteran can become qualified for this pension increase when certain specific conditions have been met. For example, a veteran could potentially qualify for aid & attendance benefits and receive a larger monthly pension if:
- The veteran needs help from some other person in order to perform basic activities of daily living. Basic activities of daily living include bathing yourself, feeding yourself, getting dressed, attending to the “wants of nature,” adjusting any prosthetic devices that you have, or simply living safely in a home and protecting from any risks or hazards within that home.
- The veteran is bedridden because of a disabling condition that prevents him from remaining in bed. He must be bedridden for some reason other than the fact that bedrest is recommended to treat a specific ailment.
- The veteran becomes a patient in a nursing home as a result of mental incapacity or because of physical incapacity.
- The veteran has eyesight which cannot be corrected to better than 5/200 visual acuity in both of his eyes or the veteran has concentric contraction of the visual field to no more than five degrees.
Veterans also need to meet other criteria, such as proving that they served and were honorably discharged. Veterans do not need to show that their medical condition causing them to be bedridden or causing them to move into a nursing home was connected in any way to their service. It is enough for a veteran to be receiving a pension and to have served honorably in the military — if these requirements are fulfilled and he needs extra care, aid & attendance benefits can be provided to help him to defray the costs.
Veterans can apply for aid & attendance by writing and submitting information to the Pension Management Center (PMC) serving your particular state where you live. Veterans can also file a request for aid & attendance benefits by visiting their local regional benefits office. You can find your local office using the VA Facility Locator.
Getting Help from a Veterans Benefits Attorney
If you are a veteran or if your loved one is a veteran and you need long-term care at home or nursing home care, you should make certain that you apply for aid & attendance benefits so you can try to get the money you need from your increased pension to help you to cover the costs of your care.
To find out more about how Frank & Kraft can help veterans to get benefits, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 317-684-1100 or contact us online at any time for help.
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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