Financial Assistance for Veterans and Surviving Spouses

     A common misconception amongst Veterans is that they think they are not eligible for a pension from the Veteran's Administration because they were not injured in the war they served in.  The fact is; elderly, disabled Veterans and their surviving spouses may qualify for a large sum of money from the government.  The pension designed to help elderly Veterans and widows to help pay for costly health care, assisted living care or skilled nursing care is called "Non-Service Connected Pension with Aid & Attendance allowance".  The pension can pay a married veteran up to $2054 per month, single veteran up to $1732 and a widow $1113 per month.  The amount one receives depends upon whether or not they are married, much their medical expenses may be and their current financial and medical status.  The pension is paid by check directly to the Veteran or widow every month as they meet the criteria.

    The Aid & Attendance pension is the government's best kept secret.  As with any governmental program, success is all in the paper work.  The average waiting time though for the review process is 3-8 months.  Quite often, this pension can mean the difference between affording adequete care of an aging veteran and having no care at all.  To receive the maximum pension amount, a veteran must qualify medically and financially and must have served their country for at least 90 days with one day being during a war period and have an honrable discharge.

     If you need any other assistance in information regarding pension benefits you can always look them up at the Veterans Administration website at  www.va.gov

And as always if you have further questions about benefit assistance or other matters you can call me at  414-892-4126.