Are You Smart Enough?

There is no question – you are smart. You completed four years of college and then another three years of law school, and you passed the bar. You’re a practicing lawyer, you attend the minimum required continuing legal education courses your state requires (if any) and you belong to a great Listserv which you feel is all the support you need.

Then why in the past month have I received the following two questions about the Veterans Pension with Aid and Attendance from very smart, reputable, established attorneys?

Question One: I created a trust for the children of a veteran. All of the veteran’s accounts, to include the accounts where all income was being automatically deposited, were retitled into the name of the trust. The veteran was not the trustee or the beneficiary of the trust. Essentially, he inadvertently assigned his Social Security benefits and pension to a trust. The trust was irrevocable. This is not permissible under federal laws. However, that was not his concern. In fact, I am not sure he was even aware of that issue. Instead, he wanted to know how that transaction would affect the veteran’s VA benefits for which he had already applied. But more importantly, how could he fix it?

Question Two: I heard that I could file an “informal claim” for benefits to lock in an effective date and then later file the complete application with all supporting documentation. The benefit of this is that the approved benefits would go back to the month after the informal claim was filed (i.e. file the informal on September 30th and benefits will be retroactive to October 1st), which means more money for the client. What I didn’t learn or realize is that the veteran actually had to be financially eligible (under the income and asset limit) BEFORE we filed the informal claim. I have about 15 pending claims in this situation. I’m freaking out, what do I do now?

The Veterans Administration requires all persons who assist veterans with a specific claim, to include “planning” to become eligible for a claim, to be accredited. To maintain eligibility, the accredited agent must take a three-hour qualifying continuing legal education course within the first 12 months of accreditation. Thereafter, only three more hours are requested every other year (every 24 months).

Clearly, based on the questions I receive daily from lawyers who do meet the mandatory minimum CLE requirements, it is not enough. In fact, the Government Accountability Office published its latest investigative report on August 30, 2013 finding that the accreditation process and training requirements are not sufficient for competent representation. See http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/GAO-13-643.pdf. The VA disagrees and has no plan to make any changes.

What about you? Do you practice on the marginal side with only the minimal level of education? Are you actually harming instead of helping clients? Are you smart enough to refer to a qualified attorney or to get more training?

There are numerous training opportunities to attend, from national organizations to state bar associations to private organizations. As an example, recently I was both attending and speaking at the Veterans Advocates Group of America’s annual conference, in Washington D.C. with about 70 other attendees getting educated on VA benefits. In December I will be speaking at the Missouri Bar Association annual conference, to both lawyers and paralegals.

Lawyers With Purpose provides continuous, up-to-date training on the latest issues, laws and planning opportunities for our members through live conferences, webinars and a resource database. Additionally, we provide a two-day Medicaid, Veterans Benefits and Asset Protection Summit several times a year, with our next event in November in Syracuse, New York.

If you would like more than the minimum training, and want to learn from the national expert on VA Pension Planning, then you’ll want to attend a Lawyers With Purpose event before you unknowingly harm a trusting client.

Victoria L. Collier is a Veteran and Certified Elder Law Attorney, Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Co-Founder of Lawyers With Purpose LLC, and author of “47 Secret Veterans’ Benefits for Seniors—Benefits You Have Earned … but Don’t Know About.”