Join us for today's episode of Home Helpers Water Cooler Chat where local expert and VA-accredited elder law attorney, Michelangelo Mortellaro of Mortellaro Law, discusses the VA Aid & Attendance Pension benefit that helps Veterans and their spouses pay for in-home care, assisted living, and memory care. With Veterans being eligible for a maximum benefit of up to over $28,000 per year, this video is a must watch.
This is part 3 of a 3-part video series answering frequently asked questions of our audience about elder law and estate planning. Thank you, Michelangelo Mortellaro, for assisting us in providing helpful information to our community, especially seniors.
#SeniorCare #AidandAttendance #Veterans #FinancialAssistanceforVeterans #ElderLaw #LongTermCare
To learn more about Mortellaro Law or to schedule a free consultation, please visit their website at https://www.mortellarolaw.com/ or call (813) 367-1500 to speak to an associate. You can also find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mortellarolaw.
Transcript:
[Jonathan] Have you ever considered what should happen to your assets when you pass away, or how you would pay for your long-term care as you get older? If not, well, you should. On today's episode of Home Helpers' Water Cooler Chat, I have with me attorney and local expert, Michelangelo Mortellaro of Mortellaro Law to discuss the VA Aid and Attendance pension benefit. Let's go. Thank you so much for joining us today, Michelangelo, how are you doing today?
[Michelangelo] I'm great, thank you so much for the opportunity, I appreciate being here.
[Jonathan] I appreciate you, man. All right, so my third question has to do with this valuable benefit for veterans called Aid and Attendance. Can you talk to us a little bit about that benefit and how you guys can help?
[Michelangelo] Sure, so this benefit's been around since the 1930s, and unfortunately, the VA doesn't advertise this benefit or really talk about it at all, so it's incumbent on us as VA accredited elder law attorneys to help educate the public, because if you go down to the VA to get your healthcare, there's no poster on the wall that says, "Hey, if you're a wartime veteran or widow of a veteran, there may be tax free cash direct deposited into your bank account every month to pay for in-home care, assisted living, or memory care." So they don't advertise it.
What I found, I speak on this subject often, three to five times a week, so I speak to thousands of veterans and widows of veterans a year, 80% of veterans have never heard of the benefit, 90% of widows have never heard of it.
And basically, it's called a non-service connected disability pension. The idea behind that and why it works so well for our seniors is that you do not need to link the care that you are in need of today to your service or your ex or your former spouse's service. And so, things like dementia, there is no causal connection between dementia and military service, so if you start experiencing signs of dementia and need home care or memory care services, the VA will not pay that bill under a theory of service connected disability, but we can use this benefit known as Aid and Attendance to help offset the cost.
And for a married veteran, they're eligible for a little bit over 2,400 a month, a single veteran, a little over 2,000 a month, and a surviving spouse of a veteran, a little over $1,300 a month, that's again tax free, direct deposit right into your bank account that you can turn around and hire a great home healthcare company or a home companion care company, or if you are ready for a facility, something like an assisted living or a memory care facility, and it goes a long way to helping the money that you have last longer and stretch out, so that you have a longer kind of time to broke analysis.
[Jonathan] Yeah, I'm glad you talked about it, Michelangelo, because I see the same thing, most veterans and their spouses are totally unaware of this valuable benefit, and the numbers that you just ran off can provide so much care that they are missing out on a lot of times. A lot of times they're paying out of pocket and reducing their assets in the process, so I really appreciate that information.
I think you've shared some great information with us today, Michelangelo, and I think it's going to help our audience to make better decisions and to make a determination if they can use elder law or estate planning services, and even your services. And so, is there anything else you wanted to add before we go today?
[Michelangelo] Yeah, that'd be great. If anybody has questions, our consultations are always free, so it's a great educational opportunity. You can find us online at mortellarolaw.com or on Facebook, or our office number is 367-1500.
[Jonathan] I'll go ahead and add that information in the comments, so they'll see that, so thank you again.
[Michelangelo] Thank you.
[Jonathan] Thank you again. And thank you once again to all viewers for joining us today. See you next time on the next episode of Home Helpers' Water Cooler Chat. See you guys.
HOME HELPERS OF BRADENTON
Home Helpers of Bradenton is one of the region's leading home care franchises specializing in comprehensive services for seniors. Home Helpers' sole mission is to make life easier for clients and their families. Based in Bradenton, Florida, the company serves all of Manatee County, including the communities of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Palmetto, and Parrish. For more information or to request a free in-home care assessment, contact our office at (941) 499-5946 or visit our website at www.homehelpershomecare.com/bradenton.