I applied for veterans benefits for my parents last year, and Dad just received notification that he has been approved after a long battle. Now I am being told that we have to apply as fiduciary. We have not yet received the second letter instructing how to go about this, so I am curious if anyone knows about the process and how difficult it will be. My brother seems to think that Dad just has to sign a paper. However, someone else told me I have to go to a hearing before a judge to get appointed. Apparently power of attorney (POA) does not suffice for the Department of Veterans Affairs!
The Marines help with things like this a little bit, too. They helped my Mom get signed-up for her Tricare-for-Life health benefits, but I don't know how much other help they do/can provide. The Marines, by the way, do this for all service branches, and they are truly awesome and wonderful for doing all this, but probably can't help with this more complex issue.
I know every case is different but, as a previous poster stated, your local VA office can offer excellent assistance.
The application process was rough but since the approval everything has been very smooth. Mom's VA reps have been very, very helpful and VeteranAid.org is a great resource as is VA.gov.
Good luck!!
The help of the local VA office was valuable to assure the initial paper work was done correctly. Then after a year had passed without action, we enlisted the aid of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (Florida). His staff has been a big help. Even so, Mom did not begin to receive payments -- and a very small amount at that -- until September of 2013.
In addition, the fiduciary process was necessary because Mom has a medical diagnosis of dementia and is deemed by the VA to be incapable of handling her own funds. My application to serve in this capacity went in with her original paperwork in 2012. The way this works is that a regional VA office screens applications and then sends a field examiner to the prospective fiduciary's home to check out the applicant and complete the paperwork.
Since Mom qualifies for VA “Aid and Attendance,” her benefits accrue from the date of her initial application in 2012. After a fiduciary is approved, a special bank account must be set up to receive monthly benefit payments. Hopefully this will take place during the February 2014 payment cycle. We also are waiting to receive the amount accrued since her application was filed.
Meanwhile, I am plowing through additional paperwork to update Mom's application to more realistically show the non-reimbursable expenses for medical treatments and tests, prescription co-pay, personal care supplies, etc. Hopefully she will live long enough to have her benefit increased to a more helpful amount.
At every level, the VA seems to be terribly understaffed, overloaded and inadequately funded. I have contacted elected federal officials to request that they correct these deficiencies. After all, our veterans gave their service and in many cases their lives. It's just wrong for the government not to live up to the promise to take care of former military and their loved ones.
Also, the application process and subsequent paperwork should be streamlined so it's a lot more user-friendly. There is no way the average elderly person could handle this on their own.
Of course we complain to each other to let off steam. But if anything constructive is going to happen, we also must put pressure on the elected officials who represent us. Please join me in doing so. Their names and contact information are readily available via Internet.
Any individual appointed as a VA fiduciary is responsible for managing the beneficiary‘s VA income and ensuring the beneficiary‘s just debts are paid.
I hope this helps!! Thanks
To become a professional fiduciary, submit your resume with cover letter to the following e-mail address: VA_Fiduciary@va.gov. Include your name, the name of your organization (if applicable), mailing address, and e-mail address with your request.
Bottom line, is make sure you listen to what they say, document it, keep copies, make phone calls, make phone calls, make phone calls. Make sure you have EVERY form they want. If you forget any form, they can hold it up for a longer period of time. It is hard to wait, but your father deserves the assistance. Don't give up. I hope this helps.
In my case, I am the POA for my dad which allows me to handle any financial assets, including property, banking, investments, insurances, etc.on a State level. However, when I applied for a financial pension for assistance with his living expenses, the Federal government has different regulations on who has authority to disburse funds on behalf of the beneficiary.
When I filed the initial forms, I had my father sign Form 21-4138 which said that "I would like the following representative to be appointed as my fiduciary". This form also has the Veteran state that "I may be unable to handle my benefit payments".
Once a background check has been done and you have met with the Area Fiduciary Hub Field Examiner, he makes recommendation to the Department of Veterans Affairs based on his findings. In my case I have been made his legal custodian for finances and my title is Representative Payee for.....
Also these funds can be used to pay for any assisted living or nursing home your loved one resides in. It does not have to be just a VA home.
The documents required to file for the Aid & Attendance Pension include a Physicians’ Statement with the applicants diagnosis and prognosis, ability to care for self, ability to do routine tasks such as getting dressed, grooming, preparing meals and state that their safety and health require them to have assistance most/all of the time. If the applicant has Alzheimers’, dementia or is otherwise considered to be mentally incompetent, the doctor also needs to clearly state that also.
When the VA finally makes a determination, if they approve the application and the applicant has Alzheimers’ or is otherwise mentally impaired, they will notify you that a Fiduciary must be assigned to represent the applicant. They will also advise you that a Field Agent must meet and interview both the applicant and the prospective Fiduciary. If the applicant is in a Nursing Home or other facility, the Agent will come there to conduct the interview. If they see that the person is incapable of being interviewed due to the physical or mental condition, they will just interview the Fiduciary candidate and note the applicant’s condition.
FYI- If you have ever been convicted of a felony or have filed bankruptcy in the past 10 years, the VA will not allow you to be the Fiduciary.
After the interview, the VA conducts a thorough background investigation including criminal background, credit history and contacting multiple character references. After completing their investigation, they will either approve or deny your request to be the Fiduciary. In the vast majority of cases, with the two exceptions mentioned above, the Fiduciary will be approved.
MY EXPERIENCE- I applied for the A&A benefit for my great-aunt who had severe Alzheimer’s disease and lived in the Memory Care Unit of a Nursing Home. Her daughter (my 1st cousin once-removed and also my best friend) lives in L.A. and my great-aunt and I were in Georgia. My cousin wrote a letter requesting that I be appointed Fiduciary with her complete blessing and utmost faith that I was the best possible candidate. My great-aunt couldn’t even utter more than one or two unintelligible syllables, but the Field Agent had to meet her face and face to validate the doctor’s and our claim about her mental state. Within 60 seconds of meeting her, the Agent was satisfied that she was mentally incompetent and she only needed to interview me.
She (the Agent) expressed some initial concern that a ‘distant relative’ (her words) wanted to be the Fiduciary and asked me if a more closely related relative might be a better choice. Luckily, I brought a photo album with me that showed my great-aunt and great-uncle together on their farm at least 25 different times during my childhood. I also had letters my great-aunt had written to me when they went to South Korea for two years on an assignment for Lockheed and a few other items that showed how close we had been my entire life. Most great-nephews may be ‘distant relatives’ but I certainly was not!
I was approved within four weeks and they issued payment dating back to the initial application date. Sadly, my great-aunt died two weeks after receiving that check. But she didn’t have life insurance and the retro-payments for 10-months covered most of her funeral expenses. So the money was a blessing and, to be honest, the fact that she died peacefully and with me and her daughter by her side was very merciful and I am thankful that I no longer have to worry that she might be suffering…..
I am required to call and let them know when I am making withdrawals and the amounts. They will send me a form for a detailed accounting. This will continue until I spend down to less than $10,000.
That is perhaps the difference. However, because it takes so long for the application process to be approved, depending on the amount of the monthly assistance, your retro deposit will be more than $10K.
The accounting and record-keeping requirements are the main reason a Fiduciary is required. The VA couldn't require that the funds be kept separate or be able to demand such detailed record-keeping otherwise. They would be forced to challenge the POA in court to accomplish that and they could only do that if there was legitimate suspicion of impropriety.
They are protecting the beneficiary and VA funds, which I can appreciate. If only the VA was so thorough, competent and efficient anywhere else within the orgnaization, life would be much easier for our Veterans! =)
Is it worth the "paperwork BS" to go through all of the Government forms and beauracy to get "how much" ?
( just a ballpark amount, please )
ELIGIBILITY
The veteran must meet at least one of the following criteria:
• Must be 65 years of age or older with limited or no income; OR
• Must be receiving Social Security Disability Insurance; OR
• Must be a patient in a nursing home; OR
• Must be permanently and totally disabled; OR
• Must be receiving Supplemental Social Security Income.
Since the Basic Pension is needs-based, the VA takes into account the veteran’s annual countable income, family composition and medical expenses when calculating financial eligibility and their monthly pension amount.
Congress sets a Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) each year, which also functions as the maximum income cap for eligible veterans. For 2015, a veteran’s countable household income must be less than $12,868 annually in order to be financially eligible.
“Countable” means that the veteran may deduct a number of different sources of income and expenses from their household total. The following table lists some of the common sources of income that do and do not count towards calculating VA Pension eligibility as well as expenses that are deductible.
To require a beneficiary to obtain a court order would impose an unreasonable hardship considering that financial assistance is awarded based on need.
Has anyone had experience with the "Veteran w/sick spouse" benefit?