A pension award is built on the figures the veteran reported, and those figures move. A new retirement payment, the sale of a car or property, a tax refund, a gift from a relative, or money moved into his account can all change what VA counts. Nobody in the house may notice at the time, and the first sign is often a letter that asks about the money after the fact.

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What counts as a change to report

Pension eligibility looks at income and net worth, and VA asks that changes in those figures be reported.1 Do not decide on your own whether an item counts. Write it down, and let the person handling the claim decide with the paperwork in front of them.

A monthly sort that catches items early

Once a month, go through the statements for every account in his name, including any joint account a family member uses for his bills. Mark anything that is not his regular, recurring income: a lump sum, a transfer in from a relative, a tax refund, an insurance payment, or proceeds from a sale. Keep the marked items in one folder with the date each one arrived and where it went. This is a sorting task, not a tax or legal opinion, and the marked list is easy to review with whoever prepares his taxes.

Name who does the sort

A sort that depends on memory will be skipped in the busy month. Write one name on the folder as the person who does the monthly sort, and a second name as the person who checks it. If the two names are the same, the check is not happening.

Compare the award letter to the statements

Read the figures the award letter uses against the statements, and ask whether any of them differ. If a difference appears, do not change the figure on your own. Ask the accredited representative or the VA office which number is in the file and whether the new item needs to be reported. VA accredited representatives can be looked up through the agency's accreditation search.2

Not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Notes

  1. Pension eligibility: https://www.va.gov/pension/eligibility/
  2. VA accreditation search: https://www.va.gov/ogc/accreditation.asp