So far I’ve posted a series of reports that reveal tons of caregiving tips, how to become more financially secure as your loved one has a host of Alzheimer’s-related medical costs, and how many veterans with the disease and their spouses are eligible for an income of $1000 to $2000 per month, tax free.

But I’ve found, over time, that a lot of my clients get impatient… they want to get right to the heart of the matter. They want to know if they are eligible for Medicaid or VA benefits.

If that’s you… if you Need Answers Now, go to the link below for a special offer:

http://www.wartimeveteran.com/hammond/get-answers-now/index.html

Hope I’ll be seeing you soon!

Timing is everything.

And in a moment I’ll share with you the dates that qualify for wartime service… one of the keys to unlocking the VA Aid and Attendance benefit for our veterans with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

But first, perhaps you’ve heard the old saying… What’s the difference between salad and garbage? The answer is, of course, TIMING!

Submitting a VA application at the wrong time can turn your potential claim into garbage. But if you’re worried about the timing of your loved one’s VA application, don’t fret. We’ve been down this road many times before. We know when it’s the right time to apply.

If you’d like us to help you figure out if, and when, to apply, call my office at (913) 338-5713 and let us explore your potential benefits.

Or if you’d prefer just to read on, let’s make sure that your loved one qualifies for the correct dates of what the VA considers “wartime.” Now remember, your loved one must have been honorably discharged, and must have served 90 consecutive days of active duty, including at least ONE DAY in one of the following date ranges:

Official Dates for Periods of War

World War II: December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946

Korean War: June 27, 1950 to January 31, 1955

Vietnam War: August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975
February 28, 1961 if served in Vietnam

Persian Gulf War: August 2, 1990 to [date not yet determined]

If you plan to apply for the Aid and Attendance benefit for your loved one with Alzheimer’s, make sure you have their discharge papers. Do you know where to find them? Check the dates of both entering and leaving the service. Do those dates fall within the wartime dates listed above? In addition, does the discharge show that your loved one was honorably discharged? If you are not sure, contact a Veterans Service Organization, or give us a call.

Talk to you soon!

In a previous post, I gave you a list of who exactly is a “wartime veteran” – according to the VA powers-that-be. And I’m sure you really want to know how these benefits divide up! What can your loved one receive if he or she has medical expenses due to long term care? This information is focused on benefits for veterans with Alzheimer’s, dementia and memory problems, or a host of other diseases that can cause them to become homebound or need the constant care of another – not for those wounded in battle.

Most people think of veteran’s benefits as being only for servicemen and women who were wounded or disabled while serving in the armed forces. By and large, that is true. But – we have learned that there are substantial benefits that may be available to wartime veterans who are now senior citizens and are facing the burden of long term care due to a host of diseases such as Alzheimers, MS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Parkinson’s and many others.

The most important thing for you to know is that the maximum benefit available can provide significant help in paying for the long-term care costs of veterans/surviving spouses who are homebound or in a care facility.

The wartime veteran has earned possible eligibility for this assistance simply by serving our country, even if their current disability is not connected to their military service. That’s why this is NOT a handout or charity – after all, our veterans served our country, risking their lives, and the least we can do is support them in their time of need.

Nonetheless, I have learned that claims examiners do sometimes view the benefits for veterans whose disability is connected to their service (disability compensation) to be similar to “worker’s compensation,” which is money that is paid to an employee who is injured on the job. For these service-connected benefits, the VA has a system of rating an employee’s disability as a percentage. For example, VA examiners may rate someone as low as 10% or as high as 100%. The injured serviceman/woman receives a check based on a rating, and NOT based on need.

Now, wartime veterans (and their surviving spouses) whose disabilities are not caused by their service become eligible for the Special Monthly Pension benefit when they are over 65 years of age; are permanently disabled and unable to work; are homebound; or need the regular aid and attendance of another – whether at home, in assisted/supportive living, or in a nursing home. The program is based on actual financial need for assistance, so there are income and asset limitations.

Now, when you read the above paragraph and discover that you must be “permanently disabled” in order to qualify… you might be thinking that you felt a little “creaky” getting out of bed this morning, but you don’t think you are permanently disabled.

It might surprise you to find out, however, that if you are at least 65 years old, the VA automatically presumes you meet the disability test. So fear not, qualification may, with the right advice, be easier than you’d think! Give my office a call at (913) 338-5713 to discuss whether you or your loved one qualifies for these benefits.

In this post, I’m going to give you information about some of the little-known groups whose members may be eligible for VA benefits.

It’s a long list and frankly, it may make your head spin!

Now before I go through all this, I wanted to let you know that, even if they find it interesting, many of my clients, about this time, decide they just want to know if it’s likely they’ll be eligible for a monthly check from the VA based on their, or their spouse’s, service.

If that’s you… if you want to know now… call my office at (913) 338-5713 and let’s explore whether or not you’re likely to qualify.

Meanwhile, in our last lesson, we talked about some pitfalls to avoid when getting help with your VA paperwork. But I’m sure you want to know: what if my mom or dad wasn’t in the army or the navy? Who exactly is covered by these benefits, and who qualifies as a wartime veteran?

Well, if your loved one served in a lesser-known area of the military, then take a look at the list below. In addition to active duty vets from the armed services, these little-known groups also meet the active duty qualification for VA benefits.

If you or your loved one belong to any of these groups and received a discharge by the Secretary of Defense, your service meets the active duty service requirement for benefits:

- Recipients of the Medal of Honor
- Honorably discharged veterans, surviving spouses, or children of any military, naval or air service
- Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs)
- Merchant Marines from WWII (Ocean-going service)
- US civilians of the American Field Service
- Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs)
- WWI Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit
- WWI Engineer Field Clerks
- Female clerical employees of the Quartermaster Corps serving with the American
- Expeditionary Forces in WWI
- Civilian employees of Pacific naval air bases who actively participated in defense of Wake Island during WWII
- Reconstruction aides and dietitians of WWI
- Male civilian ferry pilots
- Wake Island defenders from Guam
- Civilian personnel assigned to OSS secret intelligence
- Guam Combat Patrol
- Quartermaster Corps members of the Keswick crew on Corregidor during WWII
- U.S. civilians who participated in the defense of Bataan
- U.S. merchant seamen who served on block ships in support of Operation Mulberry in the WWII invasion of Normandy
- American merchant marines in oceangoing service during WWII
- Civilian Navy IFF radar technicians who served in combat areas of the Pacific during WWI
- U.S. civilians of the American Field Service who served overseas under U.S. armies and U.S. army groups in WWII
- U.S. civilian employees of American Airlines who served overseas in contract with the Air Transport Command between 12/14/41 and 8/14/45
- Civilian crewmen of certain U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey vessels between 12/7/41 and 8/15/45
- Members of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) who served between 12/7/41 and 8/14/45
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support of TWA who served overseas between 12/14/41 and 8/14/45
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. who served overseas between 12/14/41 and 8/14/45
- Honorably discharged members of the American Volunteer Guard, Eritrea Service Command, between 6/21/42 and 3/31/43
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support of Northwest Airlines who served overseas between 12/14/41 and 8/14/45
- U.S. civilian female employees of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps who served in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor from 1/2/42 to 2/3/45
- U.S. civilian flight crew and aviation ground support of Braniff Airways who served overseas in the North Atlantic between 2/26/42 to 8/14/45
- Chamorro and Carolina former native police who received military training in the Donnal area of central Saipan and were placed under command of Lt. Casino of the 6th Provisional Military Police Battalion to accompany U.S. Marines on active, combat patrol from 8/19/45 to 9/2/45
- The operational Analysis Group of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, Office of Emergency Management, which served overseas with the U.S. Army Air Corps from 12/7/41 through 8/15/45
- Honorably discharged members of the Alaska Territorial Guard during WWII
Just remember your loved one must have served in active duty for 90 consecutive days, at least one day of which was during a period of war. However, this doesn’t mean they had to have served overseas… they just had to serve, either at home or abroad, during the time frame.

Now that you know who’s in the running, we’ll show you the money! To find out more about how to apply for benefits, call my office at (913) 338-5713.

Hello again!

You recently learned about who can help you fill out your VA benefit forms. But all is not sunny down each of these roads! Here’s a word of warning about what to look for when working with various organizations or professionals.

The sad fact is, since it’s illegal to charge a veteran a fee for filing a claim for them, there are few attorneys who know anything about these benefits. Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) do truly want to help, but they are often hard-pressed to have sufficient resources to aid multiple generations of veterans, so it can be difficult for a veteran or his/her surviving spouse to get all the help they need to file a claim. There is only so much they can do.

The only other common source of information regarding this benefit generally comes from annuity salespeople who often offer to consult with veterans and their families for free. This “free offer” is based on the strategy of counseling the veteran to meet the asset and income limitations of the benefit by buying an annuity and giving away their assets to their children. The offer is that the annuity sales organization will assist the veteran in filing for the VA benefit claim. They also promise to provide any necessary estate planning work at no charge. In reality, the annuity salesperson is being compensated by the annuity company for selling a financial product to the veteran.

While an annuity may be an excellent financial decision for your loved one, it may also be a poor one, depending on your family’s facts and circumstances. All I’m saying is this: You should seek independent advice before making a decision to purchase an annuity and/or transfer assets! You should plan your estate using the resources that are right for you, instead of a one-size-fits-all annuity… because trust me, one size does NOT fit all!

And as we’ve talked about before, many attorneys (even elder law attorneys!) do not know about the VA’s benefits or how to get them. In addition, many attorneys may label themselves as elder law attorneys because they can prepare simple things such as wills – but unless they are working with seniors on both Medicaid and VA benefits every day, they are most likely not versed in the complicated and ever-changing maze of laws that surround the benefits that you or your loved one may need – and often my clients need services much sooner than they think! This is dangerous territory. You need a trustworthy guide who has traveled this path before, and travels it on a regular basis!

To learn more about annuities and other financial products that may be great – or disastrous – for your financial well-being, go to http://alzheimersresourcekit.com/hammond/pdf/alzheimers_legal_survival_guide.pdf and take a look at my Alzheimer’s Legal Action Survival Guide. Or, if you’re tired of reading about laws, rules and regulations, just give my office a call at (913) 338-5713 – we’ll be able to tell you if what you’ve got suits you well or if you need to take steps now to protect yourself.

Hope to hear from you soon!

As you read before, when I was first asked if I knew anything about these veteran’s benefits, I had to tell my friends that I knew nothing… And worse than that, I didn’t know any other lawyers who did know about the veteran’s benefits that would help my loved one.

Part of the reason so little is known about these benefits is that our Congress has erected a wall around VA benefits. The only folks who are legally authorized to provide information to veterans about benefits are:

1. Federal Veterans Administration employees and employees of state Departments of Veteran’s Affairs;
2. Authorized representatives of Veterans Service Organizations like the VFW and American Legion, among others; and
3. Attorneys licensed to practice law in the veteran’s state and accredited by the VA.

Right! We lawyers are authorized to provide veteran’s benefit information. BUT – federal law prohibits a lawyer from charging a fee to actually assist a veteran in helping them understand the VA claim for benefits – we are supposed to work for free! The reason that Congress doesn’t allow lawyers to charge a veteran to help with a VA benefit claim form is based on the idea that:

- There are plenty of capable and trained VA employees available to help vets fill out VA claim forms for free;
- There are plenty of capable and trained volunteers available at the various Veteran’s Service Organizations to help fill out VA claim forms; and
- Veterans should be protected from attorneys who would overcharge them by doing something so [supposedly] simple as completing and submitting a VA claim form.

Now, if you have not already tried to get help from either the Veterans Administration or a Veteran’s Service Organization, then I highly recommend that you try to do that immediately. Those folks truly do want to help you. Unfortunately, because of the limited staff and hours in the day that they have, many of you have already tried to find help, but still need more. That’s part of the reason why I have created these posts for you. There’s just simply not enough help to go around.