Estate Planning for Veterans: Benefits and Pensions

If you or your spouse served in the United States Armed Forces, there are several pension benefits that you may be eligible for. It is important to be aware of what these benefits are so that you can take full advantage of them when they become necessary.

The first is called a Veterans Pension. This benefit provides veterans and their families with supplemental income to assist them in meeting financial challenges. This benefit is tax-free and is available to wartime veterans with a low income, a permanent disability, or who are at least sixty-five years old. To be eligible for this benefit, a veteran must have:

started on active duty before September 8, 1980, and served at least ninety days on active duty with at least one day during wartime,
started on active duty as an enlisted person after September 7, 1980, and served at least twenty-four months or the full period for which the veteran was called or ordered to active duty (with some exceptions) with at least one day during wartime, or
been an officer and started on active duty after October 16, 1981, and not previously served on active duty for at least twenty-four months.

If your spouse or parent is a deceased veteran who served during a wartime period, you may be eligible for a Survivors Pension. This benefit, also known as a Death Pension, is also tax-free. It is paid out to the un-remarried spouses and children of qualified, deceased veterans. The veteran must have:

entered active duty on or before September 7, 1980, and served at least ninety days on active military service, with at least one day during a covered wartime period,
entered active duty after September 7, 1980, and served at least twenty-four months or the full period for which they were called or ordered to active duty (with some exceptions), with at least one day during a covered wartime period, or
been an officer and started on active duty after October 16, 1981, and not previously served on active duty for at least twenty-four months.

Additionally, the veteran must not have been discharged from the military for dishonorable conditions. If you are applying for this benefit as a child of the veteran, you must be either:

under the age of eighteen,
under the age of twenty-three and attending a Veterans Affairs-approved school, or
have been disabled before you reached age eighteen.