Articles Posted in Aid & Attendance

December 7, 2011 marks the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack was a shock to our nation and led directly to our involvement in World War II. This day, describe as “a date which will live in infamy” by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, reminds us of some very important lessons. Our veterans have given their lives to defending our great county. I would like to personally say thank you to the veterans and their families who fought in this battle or were affected by this tragic event.

As always, our firm is dedicated to assisting caregivers, particularly with Aid and Attendance benefits. Should you have any questions regarding A & A or VA benefits, please, call our firm. We would be happy to help.

I would like to thank James Kelley, a University of Missouri law student, for providing us with the following post.

After their service, veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces are entitled to a number of benefits. Common benefits include service-connected disability compensation, VA-provided health care, the VA Home Loan program, educational assistance, and Aid and Attendance Allowance. Some benefits, like VA home loans, come with a guarantee to lenders that give military homebuyers a chance to fully finance their homes. Outside of approving a Certificate of Eligibility and sending out a VA approved appraiser to determine the value of the home, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs has very little to do with this sort of benefit.

But in order to put other benefits to use, veterans must file specific claims with the VA. It is well known that the VA must determine the average loss in wages due to diseases and injuries that are related to service for veterans to receive disability compensation. As for health care, the VA offers health insurance, known as CHAMPVA, through the Veterans Health Administration. GI Bill benefits vary for each veteran, but they may include payment of tuition, stipends for books, and the Yellow Ribbon benefit.

Significant changes have occurred within the Department of Veteran’s Affairs that may affect your ability to receive VA benefits if you are a Vietnam era veteran that suffers from certain conditions.

Certain diseases and conditions are now viewed as presumptive illnesses related to the conditions Agent Orange (a herbicide used during the Vietnam Conflict) exposure.

Ischmenic heart condition, Parkinson’s disease, and hairy cell and other “B” cell leukemias have now been added as presumptive to Agent Orange.

If you are a veteran in Michigan and expecting a raise or increase in benefits, you may be waiting another year.

VA benefits generally follow the same trend as Social Security benefits. For those of you who don’t know, Social Security benefits will have no increase for 2011. Therefore, it is probably likely that there will not be an increase in VA benefits for 2011.

This obviously touches the lives of many. The Obama administration has proposed almost a 10% increase in funding for the Department of Veteran Affairs, but it is not clear that this will mean any across the board increases in VA benefits in 2011. Much of the $125 billion requested has been allocated to try and address veteran homelessness as well as mental health issues.

Often times, as I meet with clients, I learn that a client has attempted to do their own estate planning. While Michigan law allows for holographic wills (a Will written and executed by an individual in their own handwriting) there are certain complexities that remain with estate planning in Michigan.

In fact, the biggest error that I routinely see is the failure to address “living probate”, by a “Do It Yourself Estate Planner”. As you may be aware, Michigan law allows for two type of probate: (1) living probate; and, (2) probate of the Estate. As most people try to avoid the probate of an estate after death, they often ignore avoiding probate in the event of a disability.

Simply stated, if you become disabled and are unable to handle your own affairs and have NOT made arrangements by executing power of attorney documents, your family will be forced to seek a guardianship and conservatorship in Probate Court.

It is important to understand the interplay between the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Aid and Attendance (A&A) Benefits and state Medicaid law.

Clients often come to our office in Sterling Heights after hearing about the A&A benefit through seminars organized by financial planners. Seminars in Southeast Michigan are becoming more and more common place as insurance agents and planners learn that eligibility for such benefits can be created through the use of careful financial planning.

Although seminars can provide valuable information to veterans, an attendee should exercise caution prior to working with a planner to apply for such benefits. Prior to working with a planner, a potential client should perform his or her own due diligence by asking the planner a few simple questions:

Often times, I will work with families that are crisis planning. What does this mean?

I define crisis planning as planning by a family that is in the process of assisting a loved one with an illness, injury, or disease. In Michigan, especially in Metro-Detroit, it is difficult to get the right information to assist these clients timely. All to often, clients receive misinformation or flat out wrong information from their neighbors, friends or nursing home personnel that do not understand Medicaid regulations or Michigan law.

As a result, clients will often lose assets or funds that could be better used supplementing their loved one’s care or assisting with other financial burdens like the upkeep of a home or providing economic means for the other parent or spouse living at home. Therefore, the best advice that you can provide anyone in a nursing home situation, is to seek the advice of a qualified elder law attorney. Our office offers free consultations and can provide important information to assist a family in crisis.

Gov. Granholm disbanded these service centers as part of the budget reduction. This means that if you have a question about VA services, benefits, etc. you must go through the Federal system of the VA to get an answer.

There are “independent” organizations who will continue to help veterans, families of veterans, attorneys, etc navigate the VA system.

If you are interested in learning more about the topics that I have discussed on this site and live in the Howell area, I will be presenting a seminar at the Oakhaven Manor Senior facility in Howell, Michigan on Friday April 3, 2008. All are welcome to attend.

For more information please feel free to contact Amanda at: (517) 548-9870.

Oakhaven Manor is located at:1320 Ashebury Lane, Howell, MI 4884.

Often times I meet with veterans that are already receiving service related benefits in the form of disability benefits. It is important to understand that often times if you are already receiving disability benefits it is not likely you will be eligible to receive improved pension benefits, notably, aid and attendance benefits.

Here is an example. I recently met with a Sterling Heights family that was encouraged by a financial planner to apply for VA benefits by moving to a senior living center in Macomb county. The planner failed to realize that the veteran already was receiving a military disability pension for injuries sustained in WWII which later manifested after he retired. The veteran, according to the VA was 100% disabled. As a result, he was already receiving approximately $2,900.00 per month as a service related pension benefit-far more than the maximum allowed A & A benefit of $1,900.00 per month. Due to the design of VA benefits, this veteran was unable to collect additional benefits in the form of aid and attendance. As a result, the family is barely getting by with the cost of upkeep of their home and their monthly costs at the senior living facility.

Had the family worked with an accredited advisor or done some simple research, they could have avoided this problem and engaged in a different type of planning to ensure that they could receive the greatest care possible and yet preserve their assets to supplement their lifestyle or their quality of care.