Veterans Benefits

While the Veteran’s Administration (VA) offers numerous veterans benefits programs, there is one little known program that can greatly improve the lives of elderly veterans and their surviving spouses in need of medical assistance and care that do not require the veteran to have a service-related disability. Our dedicated staff and network of professionals provide counseling to veterans on their rights to these and other public benefits.

VA Pension Program

Perhaps the most underutilized veteran’s program is the VA’s Pension Program. Unfortunately, you will see no billboards or hear any radio advertisements informing veterans or their spouses that they may be entitled to receive this important benefit. The Pension Program benefits can be used by a veteran and/or their surviving spouse to help finance the costs incurred for in-home medical care, assisted living facility costs, and nursing home costs.

The eligibility requirements for the Pension Program are dramatically different than other VA programs. As a result, many veterans believe that they are not eligible for the Pension Program or simply do not fully understand the eligibility requirements.

The Pension Program has three tiers of veterans benefits, including the “Basic Pension” benefit, the “Housebound” benefit, and the “Aid and Attendance” benefit. Each tier has its own eligibility requirements and benefits limits.

All three benefits require the veteran to have served at least 90 days, with the service period occurring during one or more of the following wartimes:

World War II: December 7, 1941 through December 31, 1946
Korean War: June 27, 1950 through January 31, 1955
Vietnam War: August 5, 1964 — May 7, 1975; however, February 28, 1961 —May 7, 1975, for a veteran who served in the Republic of Vietnam during that period
Gulf War: August 2, 1990 through a future date to be set by law or Presidential Proclamation

If the veteran entered active duty after September 7, 1980, generally the veteran must have served at least 24 months or the full period for which called or ordered to active duty (there are exceptions to this rule).

The veteran does not need to have a service-related disability, does not need to have retired from the military, and does not have to have been in combat.

The Basic Pension benefit requires the veteran to be 65 or older OR the veteran is permanently and totally disabled, not due to his/her own willful misconduct.

The Housebound benefit requires the veteran:

To have a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling AND, due to such disability, he/she is permanently and substantially confined to his/her immediate premises, OR,
To have a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling AND, another disability, or disabilities, evaluated as 60 percent or more disabling.

The Aid and Attendance benefit requires the veteran:

To need the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment, OR,
To be bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment, OR,
To be a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, OR,
To be blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.

All three benefits require the veteran and/or veteran’s spouse to have “countable income” less than the allowable pension amount (according to the applicable tier) to be eligible for all or a portion of the pension. “Countable Income” is the amount of income a veteran and/or their spouse receives each year, after deducting all un-reimbursed, recurring health care expenses. This includes assisted living costs, home health care, insurance and Medicare premiums, on-going pharmacy costs and more. If you have a dependent, their health care costs can also be used to reduce your countable income (however, the spousal income then must also be added into the equation).

The VA does not provide a set figure for determining whether a veteran and/or veteran’s spouse meet the VA’s “net worth” test. However, the net worth test boils down to a determination by the VA that your net worth is such that it will probably not support you through the remainder of your life. The VA does not include primary residence or vehicles when determining net worth.

The Basic Pension benefit provides the lowest monthly benefit, while the Aid and Attendance pension benefit offers the highest monthly benefit. An eligible unmarried veteran can receive up to $2,358 per month, while an eligible married veteran can receive up to $2,795 per month. The surviving spouse of an eligible veteran can receive a “Death Pension” payment of up to $1,515 per month.

Contact Our Southeast Michigan VA Benefits Professionals to Discuss Your Eligibility to Receive More Benefits – Sooner

The dedicated staff of Estate Planning & Elder Law Services provides counseling concerning the VA Pension Program, including counseling on opportunities to qualify sooner and how to receive larger veterans benefits. If you have been denied Pension Program or other VA benefits, our network of professionals can assist you with your appeal rights.

Contact us for a complimentary consultation by completing our online information form or calling 888-663-7407. With offices in Northville and Brighton, we work with veterans and their families throughout Southeast Michigan, including Livingston, Washtenaw, Oakland and Wayne Counties.

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Great people to work with! Took the time to hear what was important to us and our needs. Made everything very easy and understandable.

Jordan J.

My mom had her trust set up by Mr. Lindsey several years ago, and she recently updated it. Mr. Lindsey is a very nice person, as is his staff. More importantly, they are all very knowledgeable, efficient, and explai(...)

Fire F.

Ruxandra is incredibly knowledgeable and supportive of her clients. Anyone working with her is in good hands!

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I am attorney that worked with Ruxandra for a number of years before she took this position, and let me just say she is the best. The best with clients, the best knowledge base for elder law in general (including wi(...)

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Shelly's professionalism is exceptional and truly inspiring. She consistently sets a gold standard for expertise, integrity, and dedication in her field. Every interaction has reflected your meticulous attention to (...)

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If you are looking for attention to detail with a personal touch, I recommend you reach out to Shelly Morell at Estate Planning & Elder Law Services. Shelly is a master at details and planning and she does this all (...)

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I have had the privilege of networking with Lisa Beatty for many years, and I am continually impressed by her expertise and dedication to her clients. Her deep knowledge of elder law and estate planning combined wit(...)

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I have known Brenda both personally and professionally for many years now. She takes extreme pride in everything that she does. Brenda is one of the most hardworking, dedicated and responsible people that I have had(...)

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Melanie at this office is very knowledgeable, and kind hearted.

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Melanie is a very knowledgeable and helpful person, and she communicates in a clear and timely manner. She is attentive to detail and is always striving to make every person feel comfortable.

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I've known Lisa Beatty for roughly 20 years, give or take a few. She speaks the truth. Period. Lisa acts with absolute integrity and I have absolutely NO doubt of her abilities to handle legal cases. In addition to (...)

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Brenda is knowledgable and professional. Her attention to detail and communications are top notch! Thank you for all your expertise and excellent customer service.

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Lisa Beatty was fantastic at answering my questions. Knowledgeable, kind, empathetic, and just fun. I live out of town and called late one afternoon. The office gave me a phone appointment with her first thing the n(...)

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Melanie always brings a positive attitude to any team and has a truly admirable work ethic. She always listens intently and lends a helping hand. Keep doing what you do :)

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I can’t say enough good things about the team at Estate Planning & Elder Law Services! From the moment I walked into their Novi, MI office, I felt welcomed by their friendly, compassionate, and professional staff. E(...)

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Margaret is very informative and educational .. she met our urgent needs!!! Margaret is compassionate about her work!!! Kim was very attentive to our urgent needs … always returned calls, emails.. reminders and kept(...)

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Caring, kind professionals who are truly there to help with whatever is needed.

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They took there time to ensure I understood what they were talking about.

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We recently had the pleasure of working with Lisa Beatty for estate planning and elder law services to prepare a trust for our father. Her and the entire team were incredibly helpful and dedicated to making sure we (...)

Erica H.

We were very pleased to work with attorney Christopher Lindsay at Estate Planning & Elder Law Services. He and his entire staff accommodated us during the start of the pandemic and were very conscientious of our hea(...)

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The staff at Estate Planning & Elder Law Services, P.C. are professional, compassionate, and trustworthy. Ms. Lisa H. Beatty, J.D., has a wealth of knowledge that can help direct your family to their best plan. She (...)

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Working with Chris and his team was really quite easy. I had thought the process to get a trust and all the other applicable document would have been much worse.

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Cathy S.

I attended the initial meeting with my parents to set up a Trust. The process went very smoothly and I am glad I got to experience it because now I know what I need to do. We only met with Christopher Lindsay 1 time(...)

Char B.

We had our trust and estate planning documents restated. Very pleased, would definitely recommend.

Kris A.

Lisa Beatty went above and beyond during our initial phone consultation. She took the time to ensure my understanding of complex matters. She was honest regarding the services that would be helpful for my mother wit(...)

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We had an initial consultation with Lisa Beatty for our mother in law. Though we live in Georgia, our mother in law is a Michigan resident and Lisa set up a Zoom/phone call to explain our options for Estate Planning(...)

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Beginning in 2002 with a referral from a lawyer friend of ours, my wife and I did our trusts. Since then, we have revised them, arranged for him to do my in-laws' trusts and recently had my mother's done. Mr. Lindsa(...)

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We felt very comfortable working with the folks at Estate Planning & Elder Care. Good solid advice, no pressure to sign up for unnecessary services. All Good!

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For most people, working on a will or trust is a scary experience. For my husband and I, it was a thoughtful and pleasant event. The pre-visit questionnaire helped us focus on what we wanted our trust to look like. (...)

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The whole team was very knowledgeable they explained options including all the pluses an minuses helping us decide what fit us best. There was never any sales pressure. Very pleased with our results.

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This is an excellent firm to work with. They are all very professional and informative. I really appreciate the kindness that they showed my wife who had major communication problems and how wonderful they were to m(...)

T Barylski

This spring Christopher Lindsay and his team helped my dad create a trust. I accompanied my dad in the process, and it was smooth and straightforward. I highly recommend Christopher Lindsay as he has the years of ex(...)

Elise B.

Thanks again Chris for preparing our Ladybird deed and related documents. We really appreciated your knowledge, expertise, and professionalism. I will happily refer you to those who require estate planning services.

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I was not very organized with my estate planning. Chris and his team provided a nice checklist of documents to get me started.Meeting with Chris and Shelly went very well as both were well prepared and able to easi(...)

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We looked into 3 other Legal Estate Planning firms before we decide on Estate Planning & Elder Law. The people there have been very responsive, friendly and great to work with. We felt that they listened to us and a(...)

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Chris was extremely knowlegable, and a wonderful communicator about setting up an estate plan. He was well organized, and presented the materials in a straight forward manner, devoid of legalese. He answered our que(...)

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I highly recommend working with Estate Planning and Elder Law Services. They helped me throughout the complicated process of preparing these important papers, and explained everything to me in language that I could (...)

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Chris was very knowledgeable and experienced, an expert in his field. His staff was friendly and efficient...so glad we decided to find a specialist vs. a general attorney.

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My husband and I are growing older and wanted to be prepared if anything were to happen to one or both of us. We attended an estate planning class taught by Christopher Lindsey and found it so informative and helpfu(...)

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Chris and his staff were attentive to our needs and took the time to explain each step in the process. If your looking for honesty, expertise and a personalized recommendations, I highly recommend Estate Planning an(...)

Will B.

I have used Chris Lindsay for several years to establish plans for myself, my husband and my mother. I find Chris to be extremely knowledgeable and when faced with an issue he does not handle, he has always referred(...)

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Christopher reviewed our current wills and power of attorney and patient advocate documents .He also addressed a number of questions we had. His recommendation was to draft new wills and a trust document which we ha(...)

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