Guy Porter is the Chief Executive at Porter Kickham

In March, Guy went to Michigan for training at the national headquarters for the American Association of Wartime Veterans. This non-profit organization helps senior veterans, spouses and widows get an obscure benefit from the Veterans Association called the Aid and Attendance Benefit.

We are now uniquely able to help our clients plan to qualify for this benefit. Those who qualify receive between $12,000 to $19,000 tax free every year.

Created by an act of Congress in 1951, the benefit was originally designed for disabled veterans or those who had reached the age of 65. With the progress that medicine was making, it soon became apparent that many veterans and most retirees were just getting started at that age, and so the requirements have changed over the years. The most recent modifications, one in 2001 and one in 2006, have made assisted living expenses and even independent living expenses eligible for consideration as medical care. When a certain threshold is reached in the ratio of medical to non-medical expenses, the benefit can kick in and really add a great deal of security to life of someone in their golden years.

A typical recipient is a widow of a veteran who served during a war, but not necessarily in the war theatre. Any enlisted person or officer who served at all, even one day during the standardized time periods, is eligible.

While not a strict rule for Porter Kickham clients, we would like to see the veteran family member in one of the “Veteran First Communities” established in the local area. These communities specifically cooperate with our efforts to educate residents and families about the benefit and they are committed to moving the volumes of paperwork required in a fast and efficient manner.

For more information on this benefit and how to get it, feel free to drop into one of the many briefings that we do around the St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson County areas.