There is a Storm coming… Are you prepared?

Elder Law Report

There is a Storm coming…

Are you prepared?

The Veteran’s Administration pension laws (published September 18^th2018) are changing.

How will these changes affect you?

I’m Greg McIntyre of McIntyre Elder Law. The changes I’m talking about involve pensions for veterans, the spouse of a veteran, or the spouse of a deceased veteran. The maximum benefit in these pensions is up to $34,000 US dollars and the changes go in to affect October 18^th 2018.

Right now, the rule of thumb on assets you can keep (when applying for veteran’s pension) is $80,000. If you apply after October 18^th, then you can keep $123,600 dollars. This is the community spouse resource allowance (CSRA) for veteran’s pension benefits.

While that sounds good, there is another change that affects it, and this is the big deal.

Besides the increase in the money you can keep, there will be a 3 year look back period. This is for the transfer of assets under the VA rules. That doesn’t mean you can’t plan. The unique opportunity right now is you can still protect assets without a look back period before October 18^th. Yet, if you apply after October 18^th, you get to take advantage of the higher CSRA of $123,600.

So, if you comply with the rules to protect assets before October 18^th, and then apply it after October 18^th to take advantage of the CSRA to $123,600, you take advantage of the best of both worlds.

Planning options are still going to be there. Qualification will still be there, but the rules are changing. I’ll be honest with you, these new rules will be a good thing for attorneys because it will be harder for someone who is not an attorney to plan under these rules. The new rules will be tougher and require more legal advice.

Summary of the rule changes.

1 The look back period. This is a huge change. To deal with this, you want to plan. Get your life estate/Ladybird deeds in place to protect your property, and place assets in an irrevocable asset protection trust.

2 The assets you can keep. This is increasing from $80,000 to $123,600.

3 There will be limitations on using annuities in veteran’s planning.

Let us know if you or a loved one is handling or appealing a veteran’s service related disability claim and we will take care of you. There are no fees for those appointments and we don’t recover unless you recover.

Related Articles:

https://mcelderlaw.com/summary-of-changes-to-the-va-pension-eligibility-rules/

https://mcelderlaw.com/re-new-rules-issued-by-the-department-of-veterans-affairs/

https://mcelderlaw.com/do-the-new-va-pension-laws-encourage-divorce/

We are also processing applications for veteran’s service connected disability now. You can call the numbers below to begin the process or learn more.