Welcome to our Q&A on the VA Pension, or Aid and Attendance. The entire video is above, and the transcript is below. We apologize as we had some technical difficulties with the video quality but it seems the audio is fine. Hope this webinar is helpful to you.
I hope you enjoy!
Welcome to our Q&A on elder law issues. The entire video is above, and the transcript is below.
I hope you enjoy!
This is the first one of our weekly question and answer webinars.
Here’s the transcription with some of my sloppy words cleaned up. 🙂
We have several new articles we wanted to share with you:
*What is a technical violation of the FDCPA against an abusive debt collector? Hint: any violation that applies to someone else — or at least that is what the defense lawyers for debt collectors believe. 🙂
*Can you still recover mental anguish or emotional distress damages from an abusive debt collector even if you have previously suffered from depression or anxiety? The answer is yes — it all depends on whether you were harmed by the collector. Where you “start out” at is simply that — we look to see if wherever you were before you were abused by the collector is different than where you were after you were abused. If it harmed you, then you should be able to recover money damages.
We have two new articles that might be of interest to you.
First, we address the common question of can a collection agency actually sue me in Alabama?
On our newly launched website Alabama Elder Lawyer, we have posted two new articles:
VA Aid and Attendance: What is this Pension Benefit? In this we give an overview of this remarkable VA benefit that can provide over $2000 a month to wartime veterans (no need to be in combat).
Our other article relates to the idea that some feel it is wrong to take steps to qualify: VA Aid and Attendance: Is It Wrong To Qualify For This Government Benefit? Think of this as taking tax deductions — as long as you stay within the rules, it is allowable to reduce your income by claiming church contributions or mortgage interest, etc.
There is a good blog post by Nolan Stewart PC related to elder law issues for folks with dementia that we suggest you read.
In this post there are references to both the medical issues that arise (i.e. needing health care proxies, etc) and issues related to money (how to pay for long term care).
When we think about a loved one needing care who has dementia, these two issues are front and center.
Here are a few hilights:
There are 409,997 veterans in Alabama.
We have been talking for some time now about the wonderful benefits that can go to veterans and their surviving spouses — it is called Aid and Attendance or the VA Pension. But the name “Pension” can make you think it is only for veterans who retired from the military.
This is not true.
To qualify for VA Pension (Aid and Attendance), you must meet an asset limitation test.
But normally your home does not count as an asset for VA purposes so this can be very helpful in qualifying for the VA Pension.
Alabama Consumer Law Blog