Veterans Non-Service-Connected Pension Eligibility

A VA Pension — also known as a non-service-connected (NSC) pension — is a monthly payment given to some wartime veterans or their survivors. You may qualify if you meet all of these conditions:

• You are age 65 or older, or you can show that you have a permanent and total disability that is not connected to your military service, or you are a patient in a nursing home, or you are getting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• You were discharged from service under other than dishonorable conditions
• You served 90 days or more of active military, naval, or air service with at least one day during a period of war
• If you entered active duty after September 7, 1980, you must also have served at least 24 months of active duty service or you must have completed your entire tour of active duty
• Your countable family income is below the Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR). The MAPR amount depends on your situation, including how many dependents you have and whether you qualify for Housebound (SMC-S) or Aid and Attendance (A&A) benefits.
• Your net worth is not excessive

It’s a good idea to speak with somebody knowledgeable about VA Pensions who can help you apply for benefits (also called “filing a claim”), especially if you aren’t sure you’ll qualify. After you apply, the VA will decide if you qualify and let you know. If you are denied benefits, you can appeal the VA’s decision.

How the VA Counts Your Income When You Apply

When you apply for a VA Pension, the VA looks at the income you and your dependents have to decide if it is low enough for you to qualify. The income they count includes earnings, disability and retirement payments, unemployment insurance benefits, interest and dividend payments, and net income from farming, business, and rental property. How much of the income they count depends on how you get it. Whether the VA decides your child’s income is available for your use depends on your situation.

The VA doesn’t count certain types of income. The things the VA doesn’t count are called exclusions and deductions. Here are some examples of things that the VA doesn’t count as income:

• Benefits from public assistance programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• A portion of your unreimbursed medical expenses, which are medical services or products you had to pay for and for which you will not be reimbursed by Medicare or private medical insurance
• Other expenses, such as education, or burial and other final expenses

The actual amount of income that the VA does count, after taking into account all exclusions and deductions, is known as countable family income.

How the VA Counts Your Net Worth When You Apply

For the VA, your net worth is the net value of your assets and your dependents’ assets. Assets include things like bank accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, some annuities and trust funds, and any property that’s not your residence. There is no set limit on how much net worth you or your dependents can have, but your net worth cannot be what the VA considers excessive.

Whether your net worth is excessive depends on your individual case. The VA looks at all of your assets and might decide they are high enough for you to live off of them for a reasonable period of time, because an NSC pension is only meant for people who really need it.

The VA doesn’t count everything you own as assets. For example, the home you live in is not counted. The things the VA doesn’t count are called exclusions and deductions.

Non-Service-Connected Survivors (Death) Pension

Survivors pension, sometimes called a death pension, is a needs-based benefit paid to family members of deceased wartime veterans. It may be paid to a surviving spouse who has not remarried or to an unmarried child, who meets certain age or disability requirements.

You may qualify if all of these are true:

• The deceased veteran was discharged from service under other than dishonorable conditions
• The deceased veteran served at least 90 days of active military service and at least one day was during a wartime period
  • If the deceased veteran entered active duty after September 7, 1980, generally they must have served at least 24 months, or the full period for which they were called or ordered to active duty, and at least one day was during a wartime period (there are some exceptions to this rule)
• You are the un-remarried surviving spouse (any age) or unmarried child (under 18 or, if in a VA-approved school, under 23)
• If you are the child of the deceased veteran and over 18, you may still qualify if you are unable to support yourself because of a disability that happened before you turned 18
• Your income for VA purposes is below the yearly MAPR limit set by law
• Your net worth is not excessive.

Generally, the VA’s calculations of income, net worth, and benefits amounts for un-remarried surviving spouses or unmarried children are done the same way as they are for veterans who are getting a pension.

If the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) decides you qualify for a VA Pension, you get monthly payments and may also get some other benefits.

How Much You Get in Pension Benefits

To decide how much you should get, the VA calculates your countable family income, including the exclusions and deductions described earlier. Your countable family income is then subtracted from the Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) for somebody in your situation. They then divide this annual amount by 12 to figure out your monthly benefits payment. The VA has a detailed example of this calculation.

If you have dependents, or if you qualify for Aid and Attendance (A&A) or Housebound (SMC-S) benefits, your MAPR is higher.

You can get an idea of the current pension levels by looking at the VA’s Improved Disability Benefits Pension Rate Table. The VA also lists the current pension rate for surviving spouses and children.

How the Payment Is Sent

The U.S. Treasury Department pays all federal benefits electronically. This means you can get your payments by direct deposit (your payments go straight into your bank account each month and you never have to worry about losing a check) or through a Direct Express debit card.

For direct deposit, the U.S. Treasury Department:

• Has answers to common questionst
• Explains what you need to sign up, and
• Has an online application.

If you choose to have your benefits payments added to a Direct Express debit card each month:

1. You can get your payments electronically even if you do not have a bank account.
2. You have access to your money any time at automated teller machines (ATMs) and you can buy things anywhere that accepts MasterCard.
3. You can access your account information by telephone and Internet, make purchases over the Internet, and get cash back at stores without paying a fee.

For more details or to sign up for a Direct Express debit card, visit the U.S. Treasury Department’s GoDirect page.

Other Benefits of a VA Pension

If you get a VA Pension, you also:

• Get Priority VA Health Care
• May get Aid and Attendance (A&A) if:
  • You need another person to help you perform activities of daily living, adjust prosthetic devices, or protect yourself from the hazards of your daily environment, or
  • You are bedridden because your disability (or disabilities) requires you stay in bed, not because of any treatment you have had, such as surgery, or,
  • You are a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, or
  • You have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.
• May get Housebound benefits if:
  • You have a single permanent disability evaluated as 100% disabling that permanently keeps you from moving beyond your residence (where you live), or
  • You have a single permanent disability evaluated as 100% disabling and another disability (or disabilities) evaluated as 60% or more disabling.

Note: You cannot get both A&A and Housebound (SMC-S) benefits at the same time.

VA Pension and Other Benefits Programs

You may qualify for other benefits programs, and some may affect your VA Pension benefits.

• VA Disability Compensation: You can’t get a VA Pension and VA Disability Compensation at the same time. However, it’s worth applying for both, because if you qualify for both, the VA pays you whichever benefit is higher. Learn more in DB101’s VA Disability Compensation article.
• VA Health Care: If qualify for a VA Pension, you also get VA Health Care in the Enrollment Priority 5 group (out of eight Priority Group categories, Priority 1 being the highest). If you get a VA Pension with Housebound (SMC-S) or A&A benefits, you qualify for VA Health Care in the Enrollment Priority 4 group. Learn more about Priority Groups.
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI): If you currently get SSI, you may also qualify for a VA Pension. The VA doesn’t count SSI and some other benefits payments as income when they decide whether you qualify for VA Pension and how much you should get. Learn more in DB101’s SSI article.
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): You can get both SSDI and a VA Pension at the same time. However, your SSDI benefits are counted as part of your countable family income. If your countable family income goes up, your VA Pension benefits may go down, or you might stop qualifying for VA Pension benefits. Learn more about SSDI in DB101’s SSDI article.

How to Apply (File a Claim)

You can submit your claim for VA Pension benefits through the traditional claims process, or use the new Fully Developed Claims (FDC) program.

With the traditional claims process, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is responsible for getting relevant records from any federal agency that you adequately identify. The VA will also make every reasonable effort to get relevant records from other sources (like a private doctor or hospital, state or local governments, or current or former employers), if you clearly identify the source and you authorize the VA to get those records. The VA will provide a medical examination for you or get a medical opinion (at no cost to you) if they need it to make a decision on your claim.

Fully Developed Claims (FDC) is an optional program that gives veterans and survivors faster decisions from the VA on pension, compensation, and survivor benefits claims. You submit all the relevant records that you have, plus any records that are easy to get, like private medical records, at the time that you make your claim.

You must certify that you have no more evidence to submit, and then the VA makes a decision on your application without asking for more information. An FDC gives you more control, the process is typically faster than a standard claim, and it’s risk-free: If the VA decides it needs more nonfederal records to process your claim, the VA will simply remove your claim from the FDC program and process it as a standard claim.

Learn more about the Fully Developed Claims program.

Whichever you file, a traditional claim or an FDC, the VA lists the information you will need to apply and explains the application process.

• You can apply online
• You can apply with a paper application:
  • If you are a veteran, download VA Form 21-P-527EZ, fill it out, and either mail it to the VA Milwaukee Pension Management Center (which handles Michigan claims) or bring your application to the VA's Detroit Regional Benefit Office.
  • If you are the surviving spouse or dependent of a veteran, Download VA Form 21-534EZ, fill it out, and either mail it to the VA Milwaukee Pension Management Center or bring your application to the VA's Detroit Regional Benefit Office.

Getting Help with VA Benefits

Applying for VA benefits can be difficult: You need to know about the benefits the VA offers; understand the laws, regulations, and policies that govern them; and know what evidence you need to send in with your application. Even if the VA approves your application, you still need to figure out if the VA has granted you everything you should be getting. This article is not a substitute for getting help from a qualified and trained service officer, claims agent, or attorney.

Many veterans have successfully applied for and gotten the benefits they claimed on their own. To do this, they have spent the time to learn everything they can about how the VA works. If you have the time and education needed to understand the VA, this is definitely an option.

However, if you find the VA’s rules and programs confusing, you should consider a few other options:

• Accredited Service Officers are employees of a recognized veterans service organization or a state or county department of veterans affairs who have been trained and are accredited and authorized by the VA to represent claimants (people applying for veterans benefits). Service officers do not charge for their services.
• Accredited Claims Agents are non-attorneys who have been authorized by the VA to represent claimants. Claims agents may charge you a fee for some services.
• Accredited Attorneys are attorneys authorized by the VA to represent you. They typically charge fees.

You can search the VA website for accredited representatives, claims agents, and attorneys.

No matter who helps you or represents you, make sure it’s a person you trust who knows what they’re doing. Ask other veterans in your area if they know of good accredited service officers, claims agents, or attorneys. Do not settle for a substandard representative. If you get a representative you are not happy with, you can change your representative at any time.