Our legal team helps you and your loved ones obtain veterans’ aid benefits to which you may be entitled.
Veterans’ Aid Benefits
Veterans’ Aid and Attendance
When an individual and, in some cases, married couples have stepped away from their normal lives and left their families to serve our country, they deserve to be treated well upon return. If disability was a part of their active duty, there may be expensive, ongoing medical treatment and care. Long-term care costs can even drive some military families into bankruptcy. Fortunately, if you are a Veteran or a Widow of a Veteran, you may be entitled to tax-free income from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Many service men and women are unaware of these benefits. The additional income can not only assist with daily living expenses but also help to fund the high cost of home health care, assisted living or nursing home care.
Do I Qualify for Veterans’ Aid Benefits?
As Accredited VA Attorneys, the Fendrick Morgan team will help you and your loved ones obtain the benefits to which you may be entitled. If you meet the VA’s requirements, you may be entitled to one of three separate benefits.
Improved Pension Benefits
To qualify, veterans must meet the requirements below:
- Must have served at least 90 days of active service with at least one day of service during a wartime period;
- Must have received a discharge other than dishonorable;
- Must have limited income and assets;
- Must have a permanent and total disability, and the disability was caused without willful misconduct of the claimant; and
- Veterans or widow(er)s must complete and provide an application to the Veteran’s Administration.
Low-income pension is the VA’s equivalent of Social Security Income. Claimants must meet all of the same criteria except for widow(ed) spouses, who may be under the age of 65 and without disabilities.
Household Supplement
Veterans or their widow(er) may be eligible for this benefit if they are determined to be disabled and are essentially homebound. There are two ways to prove entitlement:
- A single, permanent disability, rated as 100% disabling under the VA schedule, and homebound; or
- A 100% disability with another 60% disability, regardless of whether or not the person is homebound.
A disability rating is not required for individuals aged 65 or older.
Veterans’ Aid and Attendance
Benefits with this supplement are available to a veteran or their widow(er) who meets one of the following conditions:
- Claimant is blind;
- Claimant is living in a nursing home; or
- Claimant is unable to do one of the following:
- Dress/Undress or keep self-clean and presentable;
- Attend to the wants of nature; or
- Protect themselves from daily environmental hazards without requiring assistance on a regular basis due to physical or mental incapacity.
Benefits of VA Planning
- Ensure that you receive the full compensation to which you (or your widow(er)) is entitled;
- Increase your income;
- Receive additional funds, tax free, to help pay for long-term care costs including home health care, assisted living and nursing home costs;
- Provides peace of mind.
How We Can Help
Since June 2008, the VA requires anyone who assists a veteran or his/her family member with the preparation, presentation and prosecution of a claim for benefits must be accredited by and through the VA itself, before they may legally provide assistance.
At Fendrick Morgan, our attorneys are accredited through the VA and are proud to serve our veterans. We will help you navigate through the myriad of VA rules and regulations to help receive the valuable government benefits to which you may be entitled.
If you are a veteran and or widow(er) looking for an attorney in New Jersey, look no further. Contact us today to learn if you qualify for these benefits.