Please note that it says “surviving spouse,” which means the veteran is deceased as was my friend’s father. Benefits are designed to be paid to the veteran alone, the veteran with a dependent, a surviving spouse or a surviving spouse with a dependent.
VeteranAid.org was established by Debbie Burak as a tribute to her parents and provides much needed information and assistance in understanding the A&A program. You can get a beginner’s guide to the Improved Pension at http://veteranaid.org/docs/Improved_Pension.pdf.
There is quite a lot of paperwork involved and it can be daunting, especially when you are under stress or for family members who don’t know where it is! So make sure you plan ahead, in hopes you won’t need it. The list includes the discharge/separation papers, net worth, medical bills, and income statement, to name a few.
Since this pension is not well known, there are companies that offer to file the pension application for free or for a high fee, sometimes quite exorbitant, in hopes of selling you their other services. My high school buddy fell victim to one of them. She paid over $2000 for help that she could have gotten for free. For help at no charge, much from veterans themselves, go to www.VeteranAid.org or visit www.VetAssist.org, a program sponsored by the American Veterans Institute. It may take as long as 11 months to get approved depending on workload but benefits are retroactive to the date of application.
June Schroeder is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) with Liberty Financial Group in Wisconsin, and has been working in financial services since 1979. Schroeder is also an RN, having received her degree from UW-Milwaukee in 1969. She served for 7 years as the Director of Economic Security for the Wisconsin Nurses Association, making her uniquely qualified for her role as a certified financial planner. She has written extensively for local publications as well as CNBC.COM. She has taught courses and lectured nationally on financial planning for universities and colleges.