Apply for VA Benefits Before Oct. 18, 2018 to Avoid New Penalties
Thursday, September 27th, 2018
Open Letter to Delaware Veterans:
Please read if you are interested in qualifying for VA pension benefits.
On September 18, the Veterans Administration (VA) published new rules that make it more difficult to qualify for this important benefit after October 18 of this year. 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 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(s).
There are other requirements to the new rules, but these are the most impactful to anyone who plans to pursue these benefits, which would provide a cash benefit to help defray your cost of care.
The good news is, you can still apply and qualify 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 us right away. We have set aside time to help anyone who needs to act before the rules change.
Follow this link to hear more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmL2fBR4XTI
Sincerely,
William W. Erhart, Esq.
Certified Elder Law Attorney