Help Aging Parents: Veterans Aid and Attendance Pension Benefits Program Revisited

Having money helps when we're trying to help parents age well. "Aging Veterans and their Spouses" (June 1, 2010), focusing on a friend's 90+ year-old mother (a WWI veteran's widow) and the Aid and Attendance Pension benefit, attracted many viewers. 
Next The Wall Street Journal (August 2010) wrote about the Aid and Attendance Pension (called "the pension").


To help aging parents who may qualify, I've selected websites and blogs that can untangle and clarify needed information and help families with aging parents gain new insights into how this program may work for them. Start with my June post (if you haven't read it).  I include links and my annotations from that site as well as other sites and blogs.

My June post: http://helpparentsagewell.com/2010/06/01/962/

Department of Veteran's Affairs Information provides concrete information about the pension:  http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/pension/vetpen.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703824304575435932585741218.html
In an excellent, comprehensive article, the Wall Street Journal, reports on this being an underused program, with available funds; and provides specific financial information with helpful examples.

http://www.rightathome.net/blog/government-program-pays-family-members/ --an informative, detailed 2009 post about the the pension, spells out everything. But you might skip everything following the recommendation for the "How to Apply for the Veterans Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit" book, either because it's repeated on the following book site or it discusses "Veteran's Benefits Advisors," which carries a cautionary note on the blog and in the Wall Street Journal article.

http://www.longtermcarelink.net/a16Veterans_standard_book.htm --site with the excellent, instructive How to Apply book. Includes testimonial letter from a book purchaser who followed the directions and received the pension benefits within a month.

http://www.underhilllaw.com/veterans-benefits: my friend found this firm helpful with the paperwork. (I don't know if she knew about the How to Apply book.)

For further advice about applying on your own, check out: www.veteransaidbenefit.org, which is illegal to reproduce without permission. So paste the website into your browser, then go to #11 "When the Family Can Submit a Claim Without Help."

Love, sensitivity, caring and a lot of information go into helping parents age well. Obviously extra money, if available, helps too.


Let me know how this works for you and your comments can help others (if comments don't work, e-mail my gmail: helpagingparents@gmail.com).  And/or go to my new site: http://helpparentsagewell.com where posts are more professionally published without problems.