Qualifying for VA Aid and Attendance to help pay for Assisted Care. For people that make more than the VA thinks you should I am told they can place the 401K into an annuity and bank accounts into another annuity to get below the VA limit of $40000 annually. Never done this.
I am wondering if someone her has done this? I have spoken to an Elder Law attorney and his estimated cost is $7500 to process everything.
I think the $40K max might be a certain area as well, as last time I checked it was $80K for our area.
You might be able to find more information specific to your situation on the VA website.
I am told the VA cut off for allowable assets is $40000 in order to be eligible for this benefit. I think the amount of paperwork, effort and costs depends on the person's assets and income. I assume it is cheaper to get a Vet making 35000 a year qualified than one who has assets of $600000. Money has to be shuffled around and changed into an income stream. That's what I am being told. I have spoken to two different Elder Law attorney's and was quoted the same price. Not sure and doing more research.
After filling out the ppwk, known as a FDC (a Fully Developed Claim), the attorney put it into a VA approved document, that was pushed through in less than 7 weeks. My FIL recieved 2 months back payments of ($1,794 the maximum allowed), to the date we filed, and then 1 payment prior to his death. Had he lived, the payments would have continued for the rest of his life and did, but sadly, his life was cut down by Cancer.
I was lucky in that he had all of his Navy discharge ppwk, his Birth Certificate, and of course his financial records in good order, which made the process fairly painless, but still a lot of work to get it all together, but the 700 dollars seemed a fair price to pay to have it all done up nice, and they did deliver on their promises! They initially told us it would take about 3 months, and had it done in less time than that, so my FIL was pretty tickled that he finally got something out of all those years of being a Veteran!
I'd recommend you visit vavets.gov, as there is a lot of useful information there, and they can tell you where to get FREE assistance in preparing the ppwk. I just happen to be impatient, and wanted to have the backing of the VA Attorneys office for long term help, should we need it in the future. I was given the reputable information from his Assisted living place, and felt it was worth the money, but not Thousand and Thousands worth! Be Careful, as you can do this on your own, with guidance, and for Free.
However, I want to caution you that $7500 to process an application for "everything" is not only inappropriate; it's my understanding that it's illegal to charge for preparation and processing of claims applications.
You can get a VA service officer to do this for free, and they're more skilled and knowledgeable about handling VA benefit applications.
Contact your local VA, state or federal VA service officers agency and ask for their assistance.