Veterans seminar set

You are invited to a free seminar for families of wartime veterans and surviving spouses on Tuesday, July 7, at 7 p.m. at the Morris Senior Living Center located at 1221 Edgewater Dr., Morris.

Learn from experts about the “Aid & Attendance Benefit” that wartime veterans may qualify for up to $1,644 monthly and surviving spouses may receive up to $1,056.

• Understand VA benefits and the application process.

• How to become eligible even if you exceed the limits.

• What benefits you are entitled to for residing at an assisted living community.

Many veterans have heard of Aid and Attendance, an additional compensation to a veteran that needs the regular aid and assistance of another person for the activities of daily life or a veteran who isn’t easily able to leave home.

Under certain circumstances, surviving spouses may also receive this payment.

Unfortunately, many veterans never seek this assistance because they mistakenly believe they will be disqualified.

Robert Hart, with the American Association for Wartime Veterans in Joliet, said that is because the application process itself can be confusing.

Veterans are allowed a certain amount of assets and still qualify for Aid and Attendance. “It’s not true that you have to be destitute to receive this,” Hart said. Nevertheless many individuals do not tap into this assistance because they misunderstand the criteria for receiving it. It is not necessary for veterans to have engaged in battle; suffered an injury, been wounded or died during their time of service; or to have served the entire period of a war.

Even if a veteran receives a military pension or partial veteran’s disability the vet many also receive Aid and Attendance, although the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs may impose some limits on the total amount of money received, Hart said.

He would like to see any veteran who qualifies for Aid and Attendance receive it. “Sometimes people will bring the paperwork home and forget about it,” Hart said. “The more that the information is out front, the faster the family will act on it. The more we get the word out about it, the more people start believing this is true.”

To reserve a seat for this free seminar, call (815) 416-6208.