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My mother was in an assisted living facility and receiving Aid & Attendance. After a few years, her house needed to be sold to continue to pay the additional due to keep her in the assisted living facility. The VA was not notified that the house was sold. After 3 years of using the money to keep her at the assisted living facility, she ran out of money and had to move in with me.

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My SIL basically ( unintentionally) defrauded the VA by not reporting funds she Inherited from her parents while she continued to accept a VA pension she was receiving. They discovered this through IRS mandatory tax payments when the inherited funds were withdrawn. When the VA requested she repay the funds she owed them she was able to work out a repayment plan. Her $1400 SSI was reduced to $900. She will probably never get it all paid back. She handled this all through the mail. No attorney.
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You do not see an attorney if you have a veteran's representative at your local clinic or vet services. Any attorney is NOT the VA and will not have the most current information. When dealing with the VA, it is best to ask the VA what THEY want. I've been dealing with them for over 32 years.
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See an Elder Lawyer that really does know how to work with the VA - just a few out there do. Several are "accredited" but not experienced. Ask for a free initial consult to check them out by asking your bottom line question first.
On the VA.GOV website, go to the pension rate tables for examples of A&A calculations. A&A is basically determined by medical costs exceeding income. Assets do come into play on an individual basis. Again, see a lawyer. A few VSOs at American Legion or VFW may help but do not know the real legal issues. Good luck to you and your mother.
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I am going through this A&A process right now. Receiving this tax free pension is based on either living in a facility and/or being cared full time by someone who assists the veteran's spouse (or veteran) who cannot manage on her/his own. Selling the house was not relevant to receiving this benefit, only to the IRS if it exceeded $250,000. What your mother will need is VA form 21-2680 which can be found on va.gov under "forms", print that out and take it to her doctor. Just an FYI - I made a copy for myself, filled out the information pertaining to daily activities my husband is able to do, plus name, social, etc. just to save our doctor time in filling out that information. But, when we saw him he went over each question and made his own notes, and then a week later I picked up the completed form and am now ready for the VA appointment. This benefit is not based on income. It has to do with paying expenses for the veteran or spouse who needs care from either a facility or full-time caregiver when that person can no longer manage by themselves. Contact the VA and tell them where she is living and there may be an adjustment to the benefit, but not telling the VA about her circumstances now will provoke legal actions which you do not want in your life. NEVER try to lie to the government.
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The VA currently uses Income Tax information rather than sending out re-certification forms to complete. So it is possible that this was missed.
Maybe you should have applied for Medicaid that would have allowed her to stay in the facility she was in. But that does not answer your question.....
I would contact an Elder Law Attorney, one that knows the "in's and out's" or the VA and see what the ramifications of this are.
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VA sends annual recertification papers. If you gave them incorrect information, such as omitting the income from the sale, or continuing to collect A&A after she was removed from AL, you need a lawyer ASAP.
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