Are you a veteran or spouse or child of a veteran? If so, please read on because you will learn a lot!
On September 18, the Veterans Administration (VA) published new rules that make it more difficult to qualify for this important benefit. For example, any gifts that you made in the past 36 months, either to a family member or to an irrevocable trust, would be penalized. Likewise, an investment in an annuity would also be penalized. This means you could be prohibited from qualifying for VA pension benefits for up to 5 years, depending on the amount of the gift.
There are other requirements to the new rules, but the above are the most impactful to your case if you still wish to pursue these benefits, which would provide a cash benefit to help defray your cost of care.
The good news is, you can still get under the old rules where there is no penalty for making gifts or transferring funds to an irrevocable trust but you have to act quickly. The new rules go into effect on October 18, 2018, and we must have all planning done by that date.
If you would like to pursue a VA pension application (or at least get a plan in place) before the new, more restrictive rules go into effect, please contact my office right away because we are here to help you!
Next steps: Attend our FREE
educational Estate Planning & Elder Law workshop by calling 781-871-7526 or
email pat@elderlawcare.com because
seating is limited and our Learning Center fills up quickly!
This blog is intended to be
educational and for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for
hiring a qualified estate planning or elder law attorney and does not create an attorney/client privilege. Learn more
here: elderlawcare.com
