I have some bad news... [View all]

[Drunken Irishman]

I hate getting personal on DU, but I've got to vent and, in the process, update you on a story I posted a few weeks ago.

As many of you are familiar with, my dad was a Vietnam veteran who died in Nov., 2010. My mom applied to receive his pension after his death and, because they're so backlogged with requests, had to wait a considerable amount of time before hearing from the VA. During that time, my mom, who suffers from COPD, was living off my dad's life insurance. It was barely enough to scrape by and, unfortunately, not enough to pay for the mortgage my dad and her took out on their house years ago (and years before his death).

I mentioned that my parents had never missed a payment prior to my dad's death and were always good at paying their bills. They took the mortgage out to help fix up the house they lived in, giving it a new roof, new windows, new flooring and a new driveway. They didn't splurge and spend the money on a car or a luxury vacation - it was solely done to fix a home that had been built in the 1940s and was, after years of weather damage and use, getting old.

They did everything right. Everything. My parents were never delinquents or deadbeats. My dad worked until his health wouldn't allow for it anymore - as he was eventually ruled 100% disabled by the U.S. Government due to Agent Orange & PTSD, which he was exposed to in Vietnam.

My mom worked her entire adult life until 1996, when she had to quit and go take care of my grandfather after he suffered a stroke. At that point, my mom, dad and me moved in with my grandparents. It was a tough decision, but really the only humane decision - as the only other option was for my grandma to put him in a home. She didn't want to do that, but couldn't take care of him on her own, since half his body was paralyzed and he required near 24-hour care.

So, my grandma asked my mom and our family it uproot ourselves from our old life and move into her basement. We obliged. I mean, that's what family does for one another, right?

Well Grandpa died in '02 and Grandma a year later. At that point, however, my dad's health had declined markedly. He was generally housebound and my mom, once again, found herself taking care of someone she loved. But back then, their income was enough - they had his VA benefits to help them by and she was able to take care of him without having to worry about the possibility of them ever losing their house or being in the position of going broke.

But you know, times weren't easy. My mom hasn't had a vacation, hasn't left the Salt Lake Valley, in 15 years. She's never owned a new car and has never flown on a plane. The last vacation she ever took was with her mother, her aunt and a couple sisters when they went to Vegas back in like 1998 - or something like that. Her whole adult life has been devoted to taking care of first her three kids (one died of leukemia at the age of 12), then her father and then her husband.

Well, like I mentioned, Dad died at the end of '10. Since they had a mortgage at the time of his death, my mom had to make the tough decision to use his life insurance money to pay her bills & food until she heard back from the VA. We expected to hear from the VA soon, as they said they would have a decision in less than 200 days.

Well, by the first of the year, we had heard nothing. At that point, I wrote the White House and, surprisingly, they helped. A few weeks later, the VA contacted my mom and said they heard from the White House and were quickly processing her claim. A couple months later, my mom received a letter that seemed to indicate they approved of her claims and that she would be receiving my dad's death pension.

Hooray!

We were so excited. I even posted about it here on DU. My mom was worried sick she would lose her house, the house she grew up in, the house she raised my brother before he died - the house that housed most her memories, either as a child or an adult.

Even better, the VA had said they would back pay my mom for the months she was owed while they worked on her claim!

We did the math, and that worked out to $20,000 or so, which was perfect because, during this long process, my mom was working to lower her mortgage payments so that she could theoretically pay them when the VA finally ruled. Because they were in the process of doing that, she wasn't required to pay the mortgage, though they did urge her to do so if she had the means (she didn't). But she didn't worry too much because the second the VA ruled, even if they lowered her mortgage only slightly, she knew she would have the funds necessary to pay it on a monthly basis. And that money she owed on it? Well, it would automatically be placed at the back of the mortgage, so, it wasn't something she concerned herself over too much.

Of course, that required the VA ruling and her receiving my dad's pension.

But they had ruled, finally, after a year and a half and now she could rest easily at night, never having to worry about losing her house. She not only would have the money to pay back what she owed on the mortgage on the off chance the mortgage company denied her claim, but she'd also be able to pay the mortgage and live out the final years of her life in a dignified fashion.

Well, about a week after we received that letter, my mom received a check from the government for a total of about $1,800. It didn't make sense why she would receive that total - as it was too big to her monthly pension and too small to be the backpay for the months missed.

She called me and together, we looked over the letter and the situation became more curious. The way we both re-read the letter, it sounded she was only paid for two or so months - not the twelve-plus we thought originally. Worse, it was starting to appear that she was only eligible for those two months.

That didn't make sense to me. So, I went online and read about the spousal pension.

You can read it here.

I then read this, and my heart sunk:

If your income for VA purposes is more than $8,219 in this example, then you are not eligible for VA Survivors' (Death) Pension for that year. You may reapply again at any time your income for VA purposes falls below the limit.

Really, $8,219 a year?!?

My mom collects roughly $10,000 in Social Security - so, $2,000 more than the income required to be eligible.

$10,000 a year! In my state, the poverty line, with one family member, is $16,755 a year - $6,000 or so more than she makes.

This didn't make sense.

But we looked over the letter again and nowhere on it does it say our request for the monthly pension was denied. So, my mom put a call into the VA and we waited.

Well, she got a hold of someone and they told her, looking over the letter, and her file, that they saw no reason why she didn't qualify. We did find out she would not qualify for the high amount of back pay like we originally thought and that was what the initial check was - back pay for the months were she had zero income (when my dad's SS had yet to kick in).

She felt better. I still had a nagging feeling that something was wrong because of what the website said. I really questioned whether she was eligible.

Well, a week after that call, she received a letter asking for her bank information for direct deposit. This really made her think everything was okay because why else would the VA be asking for information on a direct deposit if they didn't plan on depositing money into her bank account?!?

If you're familiar with how the government pays, and I'm not sure if it's like this for every branch, but you're paid for the last month at the beginning of the first of the month.

What's today? August 1st. She should have either received a check or the money should have been deposited to her account.

The money wasn't deposited into her account and a check never came. My mom knew right off the bat something was wrong, since, unless the first fell on a holiday or a Sunday, my dad always received his VA benefits at the first of the month.

So she called 'em and they looked it up, despite what had been said by the last person she talked to, she did not in fact qualify for the pension. She made too much money. My mom, who makes $10,000 a year on Social Security, makes too much money.

Apparently, the rate is set by Congress, and they set it at, as I said, $8,219 a year. The VA has been trying to get them to raise that rate, but they won't budge.

If you make more than $8,219 a year, and you're the spouse of a former veteran who didn't die in combat, or due to service related illness, you're SOL.

My mom is 62, will be 63 this December. She's on oxygen, crippled with arthritis and now looking at the very likely prospects of losing her home.

I'm going to do the best I can to make sure that doesn't happen. Of course, I'm only in my mid-20s and don't have much income myself. But I can't allow her to lose her house. I mean, how is she supposed to live on $800 a month? The VA sympathized with her and said they wished there was something they could do - but there wasn't.

Their hands were tied.

My mom is running out of options. We're still trying to lower her mortgage payments, but that was on the understanding she would receive some income from the VA. With that out of the picture, even if they do lower it, she won't have enough money on her own to pay it.

What pisses me off the most is that my mom waited a year and a half, sat and worried, fought with the VA and all for a measly $1,800.

If they had told her from the start she didn't qualify, then maybe she could have figured something else out. But they didn't. They dragged it along for a year and a half, and even when she questioned what was going on, they still seemed to reassure her that things were okay - that she would receive that pension.

Only to drop the bombshell that no, sorry, you're not entitled to that pension because you're swimming in $800 a month.

So, now it's on to Plan B. I'll probably end up living with her, while helping pay the mortgage. Hopefully it's enough. Hopefully we can make it work.

Because I fear, if my mom loses her house, she's just going to give up and die. I've already lost my dad, I can't lose my mother too.

God, why does life have to be so hard?

Sorry for venting. Sorry for the long post. I'm just disgusted and distraught right now - and not for me, but for my poor mother.

To quote Mark 12:40: Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.

I hope so. I really do.