My mother has been awarded a small amount by the VA for Aid and Attendance, and she has appointed me as her Fiduciary and as a result there is a meeting scheduled at our home. The list of items that are being requested is larger than that being requested by Medicaid. What should I expect in this meeting? How did you handle when some of the expenses came out of your own account, and do they expect these statements to reconcile to the Fund Usage Agreement, when in fact some items were paid with cash? Would appreciate all and any feedback and thanks!
One of the most important things to have ready is the bank account with only the recipients name on it. No other money can be deposited into the account, and no other name can be on the account, except for the person assigned as fiduciary. Once you have that, you give the account information to the VA representative.
It takes a little time to receive the letter from the VA stating that you are the fiduciary, but be patient. It will show up.
Character references for me (as fiduciary).
A list of Mom's expenses.
A list of Mom's income.
There was a doctor's form
And a few other things.
They also wanted to interview Mom, mostly to see she was being treated well and not abused.
The money - like I said, a pain to set up, but now she gets her DIC, with the A&A bump in one check, going into one fiduciary account. Because the money is monitored, and you have to be able to account for it whenever asked, you cannot transfer money from that account into another. You can, however, transfer monies in.
I use Mom's VA fiduciary account to pay for the smaller things that come up regularly: cable, credit card, etc. and use her regular account that has the bigger payments (pension, SS, etc.) for the big payments (rent at assisted living, etc.).
As long as you keep that money separate, and can account for how it's spent, you're okay. One the off chance I needed a little more than was in there (big credit card bill one month), I transferred the money from her regular checking into the fiduciary.
One thing I can say - having the fiduciary account at the same bank where the rest of her accounts are, made things much easier. And make sure to ask for a bank officer - regular customer reps have no idea how to set this account up. I used Chase, and even then, they had to call the central office to get it done properly.
Good luck
Thank you freqflyer for your help!
It was very hard to get, but I am happy that we got it.
The VA person I met with was just great -- at the time, my mom was still in something close to independent living but we needed to get her into assisted living, which she could not do with just social security income. The VA money has allowed Mom to be in assisted living without having to spend down her meager savings and go on Medicaid waiver (the places that take that are fewer and fewer, and miles away).
Before the meeting, I put things in a spreadsheet and made up a budget of her expenses based on where we wanted her to live, not based on her time in the independent apt. He had the forms with him, and he went over it all with me and he filled them out, too. I did talk about the extras we pay for -- and he did include some money for us for gas and driving her everywhere. They did not object to that.
Her expenses exceeded her income, at any rate, so no matter what, she would be spending down for when she needed to go into a higher level of care.
I do find the requirement that we have two separate accounts very confusing. I pay most of her expenses from the VA account -- transferring money from the account that her SS goes into as needed to make up the deficit each month. I think that's what they told me to do.
I do not know what happens to the money now that we have learned that Mom has moderate Alzeheimer's. It's time -- she needs to be in a nursing home level of care and our house is just not equipped to handle that, and neither am I. But, the pension is for assisted living and attendant care -- so I guess I can update this answer once we move her into a NH.
None of us likes this-- especially Mom -- but that's our next journey.