What are valid expenses that reduce income to avoid exceeding the Veterans Aid & Attendance income limit?

It has been 5 years and I have answered this questions before but putting money into a trust is a great way for you and your mom to have control of her money. We were told that a person can only have 20,000 in savings plus their income ie. social security, annuity, etc. Plus, my dad receives more than 1,149 from VA. We used an attorney that only did VA benefits. If we got them approved for my mom then we paid him his cost. If we were denied, we paid him nothing. We got all the paper work togehter for him but he's the one that put it all together for us (and it was a lot) in the right order. We felt very comfortable with him and it only took about 3 mos. I don't think I would have felt comfortable giving the company that took care of her the money. My dad's is direct deposited into his acct. from the VA or govt. I have gotten feed back on this site from people that said an attny that takes money to do this is wrong but I know too many people that have used other attnys in different states and it worked out great for them. Anyway that's our story..... Good Luck and God Bless

The only that speded up the long, long proces of getting VA benefits for my mother was contacting her Congressmans and her Senator's office monthly. Even with them, it took almost two years and she is over 90.

Whatsaname - are you working with an entity such as Veterans Home Care that assisted you in putting together the VA benefit application? I did this and they were wonderful in handling all of the paperwork, application, etc. and gave me clear direction as to what documents they needed so that the app would be submitted "fully compliant" or something like that. In return, from the month that the app was submitted they paid the home health aide agency while the app was being processed. Now that the $1,149 is direct deposited into my mother's account, there is an ACH (automatic debit) to cover the home care aides time and we don't pay anything out of pocket. Hope this information is helpful......

We tried to get VA benefits for my mother, but because my father was dishonorable discharge she was unable to get it. The reason why was because my father couldn't take the blood shed and left, but he served for 2 years in world war II my mother had heard that back then the president had dismissed this for many veterans but when I went to the VA office they said that they had not heard this and that she couldn't get VA help,

The maximum VA Pension benefit with Aid and Attendance for an eligible surviving spouse is $1,149 per month.

To receive the maximum amount the claimant must have Net Income for VA Purposes (IVAP) of $0.

To calculate IVAP begin with GROSS income from all sources.

The claimant then deducts from gross income eligible Unreimbursed Medical Expenses (UME) which may include virtually any ongoing, regular medically related expense including the cost of Medicare insurance premiums (Part B, D, and supplements), life alert systems, physician and Rx co-pays, transportation expenses, durable medical equipment rentals, the cost of home care (provided by an agency or privately), and assisted living facility room and board.

Private household expenses are not deductible.

A deductible of $35.95 per month is then applied. If the net result is $0 or less, the full pension award will be granted. If the net result is below the maximum pension benefit of $1,149, then a partial award may be granted.

The benefit is paid directly to the claimant by monthly electronic transfer. The claimant then pays their expenses from these funds. The claimant is free to use any provider they choose and may change providers at will. The VA must be notified of any changes in income or expenses.

I am very interested to learn what you mean by "the bulk of it goes to the company that is keeping her in compliance". What does that mean? Is she receiving services from a home care company that applied for the benefit for her?

The VA is pretty specific as to the limit on income. It is whatever your mother receives, and if a company is taking money to "manage" that, this is wrong. Contact the VA local office in your area, go to va.gov/benefits and see what the guidelines are for qualifying. She should not be paying anyone for getting A&A.