Presented by  Senior Veterans Service Alliance

Aid and attendance allowances with veteran’s disability benefits are generally misunderstood.  Aid and attendance is not a benefit but is represented by 15 different monetary allowances available with Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), Veterans Pension, Survivors Pension (Death Pension), Disability Compensation and Special Monthly Compensation (SMC).
 
We will discuss the allowance that is available with DIC, which for the most part no one receiving that benefit even knows about.  DIC is available to surviving spouses of veterans.  There are almost twice as many beneficiaries receiving DIC as there are those who are receiving Survivors Pension – currently called Death Pension.  These beneficiaries typically have no clue that an additional amount of $317.87 a month is available to them if they have a need for the aid and attendance of another person.  For DIC, the aid and attendance allowance is not means tested.
 
Knowledge about this additional allowance will give you a decided advantage over your competitors who often know nothing about it and it will allow you to pull in more potential clients for your services as a result of your assistance.
 
We will also briefly discuss the other aid and attendance allowances that are available with the exception of Pension which is part of the instruction on Pension claims.  An entire chapter of the How to Apply for Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits for Veterans and Their Survivors handbook that you receive as an attendee, is devoted to instructions on how to understand and file claims for the various aid and attendance allowances that are available with veterans disability benefits..