This guide is for older wartime veterans with limited income and for adult children helping a parent pay for assisted living, home care, or a nursing home. It explains who qualifies for VA's needs-based Veterans Pension, how the Aid and Attendance and Housebound add-ons work, the net worth limit and 3-year look-back, how VA figures the monthly payment, how to apply for free, and how to spot the paid pension help that VA and the FTC warn about.
This guide is general information, current as of October 2026. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and only VA can decide whether you qualify and how much you receive.
The dollar figures here, including the MAPR rates, the $163,699 net worth limit, the $2,874 monthly penalty rate, the $872 and $1,141 medical expense thresholds, and the survivors' rates, took effect December 1, 2025. VA lists the net worth limit as running through November 30, 2026, and adjusts these figures each year with the Social Security cost-of-living increase, so check VA's pension rate page for new figures.
The $90 Medicaid nursing facility rule is written into current law only through January 31, 2033. Congress has extended it many times, most recently in December 2025, but check before relying on it for long-range planning.
Free, accredited help is available from Veterans Service Organization representatives, from a County Veterans Service Officer who is accredited, and from VA at 800-827-1000. Confirm anyone's accreditation in VA's Office of General Counsel accreditation search before sharing financial details. If the veteran is a military retiree, ask the nearest installation legal assistance office whether it can help with wills or powers of attorney.
Check these for your own case: the service dates and character of discharge on the DD-214, any asset transfers in the 36 months before you apply, whether Medicaid pays or will pay for care, and whether each care cost has the written statements, provider worksheet, and proof of payment VA expects.
Once you receive pension, report changes in income, net worth, marital status, or nursing home status promptly. VA can ask for an eligibility verification report and will suspend payments if you do not send it within 60 days. Money paid while you were not eligible generally has to be repaid.
VA updates its forms. It revised Form 21-2680 in June 2026, so download the current version of each form from VA.gov when you file.
What VA pension is, in plain words
Veterans Pension is a monthly, tax-free payment from VA for wartime veterans who have limited income and savings and who are 65 or older or have a qualifying disability. It is needs-based. VA compares your family's income with a yearly maximum that Congress sets, called the Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR), and pays the difference.
Pension is not disability compensation, which pays veterans of wartime or peacetime service for service-connected conditions regardless of income or net worth. Pension needs no service-connected condition, but it does require wartime service and financial need. You cannot receive both. If you qualify for both, VA pays whichever is greater, with one Medicaid nursing home exception explained below.
Pension is also separate from military retired pay. If you receive retired pay, it counts as income for VA purposes. Aid and Attendance and Housebound are not separate programs either. They are extra amounts added to the pension of veterans and survivors who need help with daily life or are largely confined to home.
Who qualifies: service, discharge, and age or disability
Service. If you started active duty before September 8, 1980, you need at least 90 days of active duty with at least 1 day during a wartime period. If you enlisted after September 7, 1980, you generally need 24 months, or the full period you were called or ordered to serve, with at least 1 day during wartime. Officers who started after October 16, 1981, without 24 months of earlier active duty fall under a similar rule. Exceptions exist, such as a discharge for a service-connected disability.
Discharge. You must not have a dishonorable discharge. With an other than honorable, bad conduct, or dishonorable discharge you may not qualify, but VA lists two ways to try: a discharge upgrade or a VA Character of Discharge review. The guide Discharge Upgrades and Record Corrections explains both.
Age or disability. At least one must be true: you are 65 or older; you have a permanent and total disability, which does not have to be related to your service; you are a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or you receive Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. Income and net worth limits, explained in the next section, also apply.
Wartime. Two of the recognized periods also have a location rule: Mexican Border service had to be in Mexico, on its borders, or in nearby waters, and Vietnam era service before August 5, 1964, counts only if you served in the Republic of Vietnam. The recognized periods are:
- Mexican Border period: May 9, 1916, to April 5, 1917
- World War I: April 6, 1917, to November 11, 1918
- World War II: December 7, 1941, to December 31, 1946
- Korean conflict: June 27, 1950, to January 31, 1955
- Vietnam War era: November 1, 1955, to May 7, 1975, for service in the Republic of Vietnam, or August 5, 1964, to May 7, 1975, for service anywhere else
- Gulf War: August 2, 1990, with no end date set yet
The net worth limit and the 3-year look-back
From December 1, 2025, to November 30, 2026, the net worth limit is $163,699. Net worth is your assets plus your annual income for VA purposes, after deductible expenses such as unreimbursed medical costs, and a married veteran's net worth includes the spouse's assets. VA's example: $121,000 in assets plus $14,000 in income is $135,000, under the limit.
Assets are the fair market value of what you own, such as stocks and bonds, land or buildings, boats, and antique furniture, minus any mortgage on that property. Your primary residence does not count, including its lot up to 2 acres (more land is excluded only if it is not marketable), and it stays excluded if you move to a nursing home, another care facility, or a family member's home for care, though rent you collect on it counts as income. Your car and basic household items such as appliances do not count either.
If you sell your home after pension starts, the net proceeds become an asset unless you buy another home with them in the same calendar year. A child whose own net worth is over the limit is not counted as your dependent. You can lower net worth by spending on things you get fair market value for, such as your own care and living costs, as long as the purchase is not itself a countable asset.
The look-back. VA reviews asset transfers made in the 36 months before it receives your claim. Gifts, sales below market value, and money put into an annuity or trust you cannot fully cash out for yourself all count. If a transfer would have put you over the limit, VA divides the amount you would have been over by the monthly penalty rate, $2,874 for claims from December 1, 2025, and rounds down. That is how many months you go without pension, up to 5 years, starting the first of the month after the last transfer.
VA can recalculate or cancel a penalty if the assets come back to you before you file, or within 60 days of VA's penalty notice with proof reaching VA within 90 days of that notice. It also excuses transfers caused by fraud or unfair sales of financial products, and transfers to a trust for a child VA rates as unable to support themselves if the trust can never benefit you or your spouse.
How VA figures your monthly payment
VA subtracts your income for VA purposes from your MAPR. The difference is your yearly pension, paid monthly: VA divides it by 12 and rounds down to the whole dollar.
Income for VA purposes starts with your family's gross income, including Social Security, wages, retirement payments, and interest and dividends. One-time money, such as a gift, a profit from selling property, or an irregular IRA withdrawal, counts for one year from the first of the month after you receive it. VA checks what you report against other federal data.
Unreimbursed medical expenses, meaning costs no insurance or other source pays back, come off that income, but only the part above 5% of your basic MAPR: $872 a year for a veteran with no dependents and $1,141 with one dependent. The threshold stays at the basic rate even if you get Housebound or Aid and Attendance.
Recurring costs such as Medicare Part B and other health insurance premiums, in-home care, and care facility fees count, including costs you can reasonably predict for the year ahead. The application says to claim only out-of-pocket costs paid by you or a VA-approved dependent, not expenses paid by other family members or insurance, so bills that adult children pay directly do not count.
If countable medical expenses are as large as your income, your income for VA purposes is zero and VA pays the full MAPR. The MAPRs in effect since December 1, 2025:
- Veteran with no dependents: $17,441 a year, or $21,313 with Housebound, or $29,093 with Aid and Attendance
- Veteran with one dependent, such as a spouse: $22,839, or $26,710 with Housebound, or $34,488 with Aid and Attendance
- Each additional dependent: add $2,984
- Two veterans married to each other: separate combined rates apply
Aid and Attendance and Housebound
Aid and Attendance raises your MAPR if at least one of these is true: you need another person's help with daily activities like bathing, feeding, and dressing; illness keeps you in bed for all or a large part of the day; you are a nursing home patient because of a loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability; or, even with glasses or contacts, your vision is 5/200 or less in both eyes or your visual field is 5 degrees or less.
VA considers whether you can dress, keep clean, feed yourself, and use the toilet without help, and whether a physical or mental condition means you need regular care or supervision to stay safe. The need must be regular, not constant, and care from a spouse or other relative does not prevent approval.
Housebound is a smaller increase. VA.gov describes it simply: you spend most of your time at home because of a permanent disability. VA's regulation is stricter. It requires a single permanent disability that VA rates 100% disabling (it need not be service-connected), plus either other, separate disabilities rated 60% or more, or being substantially confined to your home and its immediate premises, with that confinement reasonably certain to last for life. You cannot get both add-ons at once.
To claim either, send VA Form 21-2680, Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance, with the examination part completed by a medical doctor (MD or DO), physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse, as its June 2026 version requires. In a nursing home, VA also asks for VA Form 21-0779, Request for Nursing Home Information in Connection with Claim for Aid and Attendance, completed by a nursing home official. You can claim with your pension application or later, online, by mail, or in person.
VA also uses Form 21-2680 for Aid and Attendance added to disability compensation, but that route follows compensation rules: income does not matter, and for a veteran the need must come from service-connected disabilities. The guide VA Disability Ratings Explained covers compensation.
Paying for assisted living, home care, or a nursing home
Pension is paid to the veteran and should go into the veteran's own account, not an adviser's, caregiver's, or facility's. It helps with care because care costs can count as unreimbursed medical expenses. Keep proof of payment, such as canceled checks or bank statements, and have each provider complete the care worksheet in the application.
In-home care. Payments to an in-home attendant count when the attendant provides health care or custodial care and the pay matches the hours worked. The attendant must be a licensed health care provider, or an aide supervised by one, unless you qualify for Aid and Attendance or Housebound, or a physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist states in writing that you need the care because of a physical, mental, developmental, or cognitive disorder. Custodial care means regular help with two or more daily activities, or regular supervision for safety.
Assisted living and similar residential care. A residential care facility must be staffed 24 hours a day and licensed if your state requires it. Fees for help with daily activities count if you qualify for Aid and Attendance or Housebound, or one of those medical providers states in writing that you need a protected environment. Meals and lodging count when the facility provides or contracts for your health or custodial care.
Nursing homes. Payments to a nursing home, including meals and lodging, count. But if Medicaid covers your nursing facility care (not State Veterans Homes receiving VA nursing home per diem) and you have no spouse or child, or you are a surviving spouse with no child, VA pays no more than $90 a month, and the facility cannot count that $90 toward your care. If you get disability compensation or Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), which the facility may apply mostly or entirely to your care, you can apply for pension, and if you qualify VA pays the $90 pension instead. A similar $90 cap generally applies after the third full calendar month in a VA nursing home for a veteran with no spouse or child.
Under current law, the Medicaid $90 rule expires January 31, 2033, though Congress has extended it many times. Medicaid also has its own transfer rules: federal Medicaid law looks back 60 months, not 36, and your state applies its own penalty. A gift, annuity, or trust that seems to work for one program can hurt you in the other, so get advice from your state Medicaid agency or your own lawyer, not someone selling a financial product.
How to apply and protect your start date
Apply online at VA.gov, upload VA Form 21P-527EZ, the Application for Veterans Pension, through VA's QuickSubmit tool, take it to a VA regional office, or mail it to: Department of Veterans Affairs, Pension Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365.
An intent to file sets a potential start date, and if VA approves your claim you may get back pay from that date. Starting the online application while signed in to VA.gov with an identity-verified account sets that date automatically. With a paper form or an unverified account, you may want to submit an intent to file first, such as VA Form 21-0966, then file the complete application within 1 year.
The application also asks for VA Form 21P-0969, the Income and Asset Statement, if you and your dependents have more than $75,000 in assets not counting your home, five or more sources of income, or asset transfers in the three calendar years before this year. VA Form 21P-8416, the Medical Expense Report, adds room for medical costs.
If the veteran cannot sign because of a mental or physical condition, an alternate signer can: a court-appointed representative, an agent under a durable power of attorney, a relative or other person responsible for the veteran's care, or an official of the caring facility. VA may ask for proof.
Free help: accredited Veterans Service Organization representatives help with pension claims at no charge, and a County Veterans Service Officer can be accredited through a recognized state veterans organization. VA's National Call Center is 800-827-1000. Whoever helps you, gather these first:
- Your DD-214 or other separation papers for every period of service
- Your Social Security number, any VA file number, and your work history
- Marriage history for you and your spouse, and details on dependents
- Household gross monthly income, asset values, and full trust documents if there is a trust
- Unreimbursed medical and care costs, with proof of payment and a care worksheet from each provider
- Medical records if you are under 65, plus Form 21-2680 or 21-0779 for Aid and Attendance or Housebound
Pension scams and paid help to avoid
VA and the Federal Trade Commission both warn about pension poaching: advisers who approach older veterans and families by phone, at presentations, and in assisted living facilities and nursing homes, offering to move money so you appear to qualify. They profit from fees or the products they sell, and the moves can leave you worse off.
Know the fee rules. No one may charge you for preparing or filing your initial pension claim, and Veterans Service Organizations recognized by VA always help for free. An accredited attorney or claims agent may charge only for work done after VA decides your initial claim, with a fee agreement and VA Form 21-22a on file, and a fee above one-third of past-due benefits is presumed unreasonable. VA accreditation covers claim representation only. It does not show VA endorsement or financial planning qualifications, and it may not be used to market financial products.
Be most careful with annuities and trusts sold as a way to qualify. Money moved into one you cannot fully cash out for yourself can bring a VA penalty of up to 5 years, count against you under Medicaid's transfer rules, and tie up money you need. If VA later finds you were not eligible, you must repay what it paid. If you were sold such a product through fraud or unfair business practices, report it right away; a complaint filed at the time can support VA's exception for those transfers. Annuities also have a free-look period, set by state law, to cancel for a refund.
Other red flags: a promise of guaranteed approval, since only VA decides; any upfront fee; a lump sum offered for part of your future payments; a caregiver, adviser, or facility that wants your benefits paid into its account; pressure to decide fast or sign blank forms; and calls claiming your VA profile was flagged for time-sensitive benefits. If you see any of these, check and report:
- Check anyone offering help in VA's Office of General Counsel accreditation search, which lists accredited VSO representatives, claims agents, and attorneys
- Report pension scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, using the link on VA's Office of General Counsel accreditation page, which also alerts VA's accreditation program
- Tell your state attorney general
- Report annuity or insurance sales problems to your state insurance regulator
- Report fraud involving VA programs to the VA Office of Inspector General, online or at 1-800-488-8244
- Send complaints about an accredited representative's conduct to VA's Office of General Counsel
Survivors Pension, briefly
Surviving spouses and unmarried dependent children of wartime veterans may qualify for Survivors Pension if the veteran met the same service rules and did not have a dishonorable discharge. A surviving spouse must not have remarried and generally must have lived with the veteran from marriage until death, though some separations, such as for health or work, are allowed. The $163,699 net worth limit also applies.
The maximum rates are lower. From December 1, 2025, the MAPR for a surviving spouse with no dependents is $11,699 a year, or $18,697 with Aid and Attendance. Apply on VA Form 21P-534EZ, which also covers Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. The guide Survivor and Caregiver Benefits covers survivors in detail.
Sources
Every figure above is drawn from these sources. Figures and rules change, so check the current source before you act.
- VA.gov: Eligibility for Veterans Pension
- VA.gov: How to apply for a VA pension as a Veteran
- VA.gov: Current pension rates for Veterans
- VA.gov: How are pension benefits and disability compensation different?
- VA.gov: Aid and Attendance benefits and Housebound allowance
- VA.gov: $90 VA pension rate if you're in a Medicaid-covered nursing facility
- VA.gov: Survivors Pension
- VA Form 21P-527EZ, Application for Veterans Pension (December 2025 revision)
- VA Form 21-2680, Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance (June 2026 revision)
- Federal Register, 91 FR 7387 (Feb. 17, 2026): Veterans and Survivors Pension and Parents' DIC Cost-of-Living Adjustments
- 38 CFR 3.274, Net worth and VA pension (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 3.275, How VA determines the asset amount for pension net worth determinations (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 3.276, Asset transfers and penalty periods (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 3.277, Eligibility reporting requirements (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 3.278, Deductible medical expenses (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 3.351, Special monthly dependency and indemnity compensation, death compensation, pension and spouse's compensation ratings (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 3.352, Criteria for determining need for aid and attendance (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 14.629, Requirements for accreditation (eCFR)
- 38 CFR 14.636, Payment of fees for representation by agents and attorneys (eCFR)
- 38 U.S.C. 5503 (GovInfo, United States Code 2024 edition)
- Public Law 119-43, Medal of Honor Act (GovInfo)
- 42 U.S.C. 1396p (GovInfo, United States Code 2024 edition)
- VA Office of General Counsel: Accreditation, Discipline, and Fees Program
- VA: Pension Poaching FAQ (April 2025)
- FTC Consumer Advice: Veterans Pension and Disability Benefits