VA Pension and Aid and Attendance: A Plain Guide for Low-Income Veterans
VA pension is a needs-based monthly payment for wartime veterans with limited income, and for their surviving spouses and children. Add-ons called Aid and Attendance and Housebound raise the payment for people who need help with daily care or can't leave home. You don't need a service-connected disability to qualify. You do need wartime service, an age or disability factor, and income and assets under VA's limits. Here's how each piece works, with VA's current rate tables.
AT A GLANCE
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Pension isn't the same as disability compensation
VA disability compensation pays for conditions caused or worsened by military service. Veterans Pension is different. It's based on need. VA calls it a monthly payment "to wartime Veterans who meet certain age or disability requirements, and who have income and net worth within certain limits." The VA how-to-apply page also describes pension benefits as tax-free.
It's easy to assume pension depends on a combat injury or a VA disability rating, but it doesn't. A veteran who served during a wartime period, is now 65 or older and has modest income may qualify even with no service-connected condition.
The service requirement
You can't have a dishonorable discharge, and your service has to meet one of these tests:
When you started active duty | Minimum service |
|---|---|
Before September 8, 1980 | At least 90 days of active duty, with at least 1 day during a wartime period |
After September 7, 1980, as an enlisted person | At least 24 months, or the full period you were called or ordered to serve (with some exceptions), with at least 1 day during wartime |
After October 16, 1981, as an officer | You hadn't previously served on active duty for at least 24 months, with at least 1 day during wartime |
VA currently recognizes these wartime periods for pension:
Period | Dates |
|---|---|
Korean conflict | June 27, 1950 to January 31, 1955 |
Vietnam era (served in the Republic of Vietnam) | November 1, 1955 to May 7, 1975 |
Vietnam era (served elsewhere) | August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975 |
Gulf War | August 2, 1990 to a future date set by law or presidential proclamation |
Earlier periods (the Mexican Border period, World War I and World War II) also count. The Gulf War period is still open, so veterans who served after 1990 can meet the wartime test.
If you got an other-than-honorable or bad conduct discharge, VA says you may not be eligible. You can apply for a discharge upgrade or ask VA for a Character of Discharge review.
The age or disability requirement
At least one of these must be true:
you're 65 or older;
you have a permanent and total disability;
you're a nursing home patient receiving long-term care because of a disability; or
you're getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income.
The money tests: income and net worth
Income for VA purposes includes wages, Social Security, investment and retirement income, and income your dependents receive. VA lets you subtract some expenses, mainly unreimbursed medical costs and educational expenses.
Net worth is your assets plus your yearly income for VA purposes. Assets are the market value of property you own minus any mortgage, including investments and items like boats or antique furniture. Your primary home, your car, and basic household items don't count. Your spouse's net worth counts too.
VA's own example: someone with $121,000 in assets and $14,000 in yearly income has a net worth of $135,000, which is under the $163,699 limit.
The 3-year look-back
When you file, VA reviews any assets you transferred in the 3 years before your claim. If you gave assets away or sold them for less than fair market value, and keeping them would have put you over the net worth limit, VA can impose a penalty period of up to 5 years with no pension. VA lists the penalty period rate as $2,874. The look-back started with claims filed on or after October 18, 2018.
How much VA pays
VA takes your Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) and subtracts your countable income. The difference is your yearly pension, paid monthly. These are VA's veteran rates effective December 1, 2025 (a 2.8% cost-of-living increase):
Veteran's situation | Basic pension | With Housebound | With Aid and Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
No dependents | $17,441 | $21,313 | $29,093 |
1 dependent spouse or child | $22,839 | $26,710 | $34,488 |
Each additional dependent | add $2,984 | add $2,984 | add $2,984 |
When two married veterans both qualify, VA uses separate rates, from $22,839 (neither gets an add-on) up to $46,143 (both get Aid and Attendance).
A simple illustration (our math, using VA's table): a veteran with a dependent spouse who qualifies for Aid and Attendance has a MAPR of $34,488. If the couple's countable income is $10,000, the pension would be $24,488 for the year, about $2,040 a month.
How medical costs help
Unreimbursed medical expenses can be deducted, but only the part above 5% of your MAPR. That threshold is $872 for a veteran with no dependents and $1,141 for a veteran with one dependent. If you pay out of pocket for care, keep receipts. These expenses can lower your countable income and raise your pension.
If you have a child who works, VA lets you exclude up to $16,100 of the child's wages.
Aid and Attendance and Housebound
These aren't separate programs. They're add-ons to a VA pension, so you have to qualify for pension first. You can get one or the other, not both.
Add-on | You may qualify if... |
|---|---|
Aid and Attendance | You need another person to help with daily activities like bathing, feeding and dressing; or you're in bed most of the day because of illness; or you're in a nursing home because of lost mental or physical abilities related to a disability; or your vision is 5/200 or less in both eyes even with glasses, or your visual field is 5 degrees or less |
Housebound | You spend most of your time at home because of a permanent disability |
To apply, a medical examiner fills out the exam section of VA Form 21-2680. If you're in a nursing home, you'll also need VA Form 21-0779 (Request for Nursing Home Information). You can apply for the add-on online, by mail, or at a VA regional office.
VA also has a separate $90 monthly pension payment for veterans with no dependents who live in a Medicaid-covered nursing facility.
Survivors Pension
A surviving spouse or unmarried child of a wartime veteran may get a Survivors Pension. The veteran's service has to meet the same wartime test, and the veteran can't have had a dishonorable discharge.
A surviving spouse must not have remarried, must meet the income and net worth limits, and generally must have lived with the veteran continuously from marriage until death. VA says separations because of health, work or the veteran's misconduct may not disqualify you.
A child must be unmarried and under 18, under 23 and in a VA-approved school, or unable to care for themselves because of a disability that began before age 18.
Surviving spouse's situation | Basic | With Housebound | With Aid and Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
No dependent child | $11,699 | $14,298 | $18,697 |
1 dependent child | $15,311 | $17,902 | $22,304 |
Add $2,984 for each additional child. VA's example: a surviving spouse with one child who qualifies for Aid and Attendance and has $10,000 in yearly income would get $12,304 a year, or $1,025.33 a month. Survivors apply with VA Form 21P-534EZ.
How to apply
APPLYING FOR VA PENSION
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The Veterans Pension program provides monthly payments to wartime Veterans who meet certain age or disability requirements, and who have income and net worth within certain limits. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
Getting free help
VA says you can work with an accredited attorney, claims agent or Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative to apply, file a claim or ask for a decision review. VA.gov links to a tool for finding one. VA also points veterans and survivors to FCC advice on spotting fraud and scams, and to the FTC for filing a complaint. Be cautious about anyone who tells you to move assets around to qualify, because transfers can trigger the look-back penalty described above.
If your records were lost in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, VA has a process to help reconstruct them.
Related guides
Official sources
Last checked: October 30, 2026, against VA.gov's pension eligibility, rates, Aid and Attendance, how-to-apply, Survivors Pension and Survivors Pension rate pages. The rates shown took effect December 1, 2025. VA normally adjusts them each December.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. VA decides each claim on its own facts. For help with a claim, contact an accredited VSO representative or call VA at 800-827-1000.
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