Veterans and surviving spouses
There is money set aside for this, and most people never claim it
Aid and Attendance is an addition to a VA pension for veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily living. It is not new, it is not a loophole, and it goes uncollected constantly because almost nobody is told it exists.
What it is
An increase on top of a VA pension
Aid and Attendance is not a separate program you apply to on its own. It is a higher monthly rate added to a VA pension for people who need another person's help with everyday activities, such as bathing, dressing, eating, or managing medication.
Because it is an increase to a pension, the first question is always whether the veteran or surviving spouse is eligible for the pension itself. That turns on service history, age or disability status, and the income and net worth limits the VA sets and updates each year.
The reason it matters here is straightforward. For a veteran paying for residential care, the benefit can change the arithmetic of what is affordable, sometimes by a lot.
A word about the numbers
We deliberately do not publish benefit amounts or income limits on this page. The VA revises them annually and a stale figure on a website is worse than no figure at all. For current rates, see va.gov, or ask us and we will look at your situation with you.
Roughly who qualifies
Four things the VA looks at
This is the shape of it, not the rulebook. Eligibility is decided by the VA, not by us, and the details matter.
Service
Active duty service including at least one day during a recognised wartime period, with an other-than-dishonourable discharge.
Need for help
Requiring another person's assistance with daily activities, or being housebound, in a care facility, or having significantly limited eyesight.
Income and assets
Countable income and net worth under limits the VA sets and adjusts each year. Care costs can offset countable income.
Who can claim
The veteran, and in many cases a surviving spouse who has not remarried. Surviving spouses are the group most often unaware of it.
The honest summary
Plenty of people who would qualify assume they will not, usually because they hear "pension" and think of a disability rating they never had, or because they assume owning a home disqualifies them. Neither assumption is reliably true. The only way to find out is to check.
How we help
We have done this before, and it shows
The application is not difficult so much as unfamiliar, and it asks for documents most families have to go looking for. We help residents and their families assemble it.
- Working out whether it is worth applying before you spend weeks on it
- The list of documents to gather, including discharge and marriage records
- Documenting care costs correctly, which is the part people get wrong
- Pointing you to accredited help, and telling you plainly when a paid "benefits consultant" is not necessary
Ed was drafted at 19 in 1961 and retired in 1986. He flew helicopters in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972, transporting the wounded and the deceased. Today he is a long-standing resident here, and he has chosen Autumn Ridge twice.
Autumn Ridge Residences is not a government agency and is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. We help families understand and assemble an application. Eligibility decisions are made by the VA.