VA Aid and Attendance in Montana is the same federal VA pension paid at a higher maximum rate when a wartime veteran needs regular help with everyday tasks like bathing, dressing, or eating. For a veteran with a spouse, the 2026 maximum is $34,488 a year, which VA pays monthly, up to $2,874 a month. If your family is paying out of pocket for a parent's care, it's one of the first benefits worth checking.

This guide walks through who qualifies, how much you can receive, how to apply, and where to get free help filing in Montana, including from the Montana Veteran Affairs Division and its accredited Veteran Service Officers.

In This Guide

What Is Aid and Attendance?

Aid and Attendance (A&A) is an enhanced VA pension benefit for wartime veterans and their surviving spouses who need help with everyday activities. It isn't a separate program. It's the same VA pension paid at a higher maximum rate when you need regular care, so the Aid and Attendance figure is the ceiling on the whole pension, not an amount paid on top of the basic rate. This guide covers that pension route. VA Form 21-2680 is also used to apply for Aid and Attendance that will be added to your monthly compensation benefits, so a veteran who receives VA disability compensation rather than a pension takes a different path.

You may qualify if you need help with daily activities such as:

  • Bathing or showering
  • Dressing and undressing
  • Eating or preparing meals
  • Using the toilet
  • Adjusting prosthetic devices
  • Protecting yourself from everyday hazards

You can also qualify if you're bedridden, spend a large part of the day in bed because of illness, live in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, or have severely limited eyesight (5/200 or less in both eyes).

The VA pays A&A as cash to the veteran or surviving spouse, so the money can go toward in-home care, assisted living, or nursing home costs. That flexibility is part of what makes it so useful for Montana families piecing together long-term care.

Not sure whether your parent qualifies for Aid and Attendance? Check with Brevy's care navigator at brevy.com.

Do You Qualify?

To receive Aid and Attendance, you have to meet all four of these requirements.

1. Wartime service. How much service the VA requires depends on when the veteran started active duty. Someone who started before September 8, 1980 needs at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a wartime period. Someone who started as an enlisted person after September 7, 1980 generally needs at least 24 months, or the full period for which they were called or ordered to active duty, again with at least one day during wartime. A third branch covers an officer who started on active duty after October 16, 1981 and had not previously served on active duty for at least 24 months. Meeting any one of the three satisfies the service test. Recognized wartime periods include World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War era, and the Gulf War, which runs from August 2, 1990 through a future date to be set by law or presidential proclamation, so post-9/11 service falls inside it.

2. Discharge, plus age or disability. The veteran must have no dishonorable discharge, and at least one of these four must be true: they are at least 65 years old; they have a permanent and total disability; they are a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or they are getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. Any one branch is enough. A permanent and total rating is not the only disability route: a wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI meets this requirement on that branch alone, with no adjudicated rating.

3. Need for assistance. The veteran or surviving spouse must need regular help with daily activities, be bedridden, be in a nursing home, or have severely limited eyesight as described above.

4. Net worth under $163,699. This is the 2026 limit. The calculation includes your and your dependents' assets and income for VA purposes. Your primary home, your car, and basic home items don't count as assets.

Surviving spouses qualify too. If the veteran has passed away and the surviving spouse needs help with daily activities, they can apply for the Survivors Pension with Aid and Attendance, which has a 2026 maximum of $18,697 a year for a surviving spouse with no dependents ($22,304 with one dependent child).

2026 Aid and Attendance Rates

The VA calculates your payment as the difference between your countable income and the Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) for your category. If your income is low enough, you receive the full amount. These rates are federal, so they're the same in Montana as anywhere else. VA publishes them as annual maximums and pays pension monthly: under 38 CFR 3.273, it subtracts your countable income from the annual rate and divides what's left by 12.

Category Annual Rate
Veteran, no dependents $29,093
Veteran with spouse $34,488
Two veterans married to each other (both A&A) $46,143
Surviving spouse, no dependents $18,697
Veteran, no dependents (Housebound) $21,313
Veteran, no dependents (basic pension) $17,441
Each additional dependent +$2,984

Here's how the math works. If a veteran with a spouse has $12,000 in annual countable income and qualifies for A&A, the VA pays the difference: $34,488 minus $12,000 leaves $22,488 a year, which VA pays in monthly installments. Medical expenses you aren't reimbursed for can reduce your countable income, which raises your benefit, but only the part above 5% of the maximum rate counts. VA prints that threshold as $1,141 for a veteran with one dependent and $872 for a veteran with no spouse or child. You report those expenses on VA Form 21P-8416 (Medical Expense Report).

The Net Worth Limit and 3-Year Lookback

The 2026 net worth limit is $163,699. The VA's calculation includes your and your dependents' assets and income for VA purposes.

What counts: bank accounts, stocks, bonds, investment property, IRAs, and other financial assets, plus your annual income.

What doesn't count as an asset: your primary residence, your car, and basic home items like appliances you wouldn't take with you if you moved. The house you live in doesn't push you over the limit, which matters for the many Montana veterans who own their homes outright but live on a modest fixed income.

The 3-Year Lookback Rule

The VA reviews any assets you transferred for less than fair market value in the three years before you file your claim. If you gave away or sold assets below market value and keeping them would have put you over the net worth limit, the VA may assess a penalty period of up to five years. Putting money into an annuity, a trust, or another investment that lowers your net worth also counts as a transfer for less than fair market value, unless you can cash out the whole balance for your own use, in which case VA counts it as net worth.

This rule exists to stop people from simply giving away savings to qualify. If you're thinking about transferring assets, talk to a VA-accredited attorney or an elder law attorney first. The penalty can be steep, so it's worth getting advice before you move money.

How to Apply for VA Aid and Attendance in Montana

The steps below are the pension route, the one this guide covers: VA's condition is that "You may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension." Form 21-2680 also covers Aid and Attendance added to monthly compensation benefits, so a veteran on VA disability compensation rather than pension should ask an accredited representative which route fits before filing.

1
Step 1

File an intent to file, if you're still gathering information

A claimant still assembling records can submit VA Form 21-0966 (Intent to File) first. Submitting an intent to file can secure the earliest possible effective date for any retroactive payments you may be eligible to receive, which matters while you wait on a medical examiner.

2
Step 2

Get a medical examination

A medical examiner fills out the examination information section of VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), documenting which daily activities you need help with and why. Be thorough. The more detail about specific limitations, the stronger the claim.

3
Step 3

Complete the pension application

A wartime veteran pursuing the pension route who is not already receiving a VA pension also submits VA Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension), which covers service history, income, net worth, and medical conditions. This is the wartime, means-tested pension form, so it is not the right form for a veteran seeking Aid and Attendance added to disability compensation.

4
Step 4

Add the nursing home form, if it applies

A claim for a patient in a nursing home will also need VA Form 21-0779 (Request for Nursing Home Information in Connection with Claim for Aid and Attendance). A nursing home official uses it to verify that the claimant is a patient in a qualifying facility.

5
Step 5

Submit everything

You can file online at VA.gov, mail the forms to the VA Pension Intake Center, apply in person at a VA regional office, or have an accredited representative such as a Montana Veteran Service Officer file for you. VA's online claim-status tool lets you track the claim.

6
Step 6

Wait for a decision

Asked how long a decision takes, the VA's answer is "It depends." It processes claims in the order it receives them, unless a claim requires priority processing. Send everything together so VA has a complete claim to work from.

Documents to Gather First

  • DD-214 (discharge papers) showing wartime service dates
  • Medical records documenting the need for daily help
  • Income documentation (Social Security and pension statements)
  • Asset information (bank and investment statements)
  • Marriage certificate, if claiming as a veteran with a spouse
  • Death certificate, if applying as a surviving spouse

Free Help in Montana: MVAD and Veteran Service Officers

You don't have to file this claim alone. Free, accredited help is available across Montana. You should never pay to file an initial VA claim.

The Montana Veteran Affairs Division (MVAD)

The Montana Veteran Affairs Division, known as MVAD, is the state veterans agency, administratively attached to the Montana Department of Military Affairs. Its Montana Veteran Services Program is a no-cost resource staffed by nationally accredited Veteran Service Officers who prepare and submit VA compensation and pension claims, handle the appeals process, and provide advocacy and representation at VA hearings, as well as survivor benefit claims and military service records requests. Because Aid and Attendance is an increase to the VA pension, it falls squarely within the pension-claim help these officers provide.

MVAD runs this program statewide through a network of nine veteran service offices, located in Belgrade, Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Miles City, and Missoula. A Veteran Service Officer can develop the evidence the VA needs, prepare and submit your claim, and stay with you through an appeal, all without a fee.

Montana's State Veterans Homes

Montana has three state veterans homes, named in state law, and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) handles admission to them and publishes a page for each: the Montana Veterans' Home in Columbia Falls, the Eastern Montana Veterans Home in Glendive, and the Southwest Montana Veterans Home in Butte. The Columbia Falls and Glendive homes both hold Medicare/Medicaid and Veterans' Administration certification. Admission to the Columbia Falls nursing program is open to honorably discharged veterans who served in the armed forces of the United States and who qualify for skilled or intermediate nursing care or domiciliary self-care living; spouses of veterans are admitted on a space-available basis, and a veteran and spouse may be admitted together if both qualify. For a veteran weighing assisted living or nursing care, an A&A award can help cover costs whether they stay at home or move into one of these homes.

Montana's Veteran Population

The VA's National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics state summary for FY2023 puts Montana's veteran population at 85,247, a modelled estimate, and counts 46.5% of them as 65 or older. Because Montana is large and rural, it's worth contacting the nearest Veteran Service Office early rather than waiting until a care crisis forces the issue.

A word of caution: be wary of companies that charge fees to help with VA claims. The services an accredited Veterans Service Organization representative provides on a VA benefit claim are always free, and only accredited agents and attorneys may receive fees from claimants at all. Even they may charge only for representation provided after the VA has issued notice of its initial decision on the claim, so no one should charge you to prepare and file the initial pension application. A Montana Veteran Service Officer, or another accredited VSO representative you can find through VA's accredited representative locator, can file your initial claim at no cost.

How VA Aid and Attendance Works with Montana Medicaid

Aid and Attendance and Montana Medicaid are run separately, by different agencies and under different rules. On the Medicaid side, the DPHHS Senior and Long Term Care Division points seniors and people with disabilities to Medicaid support options that help them stay independent. It also administers the Big Sky Waiver, Montana's home and community-based waiver for people 65 or older and people with physical disabilities who are financially eligible for Medicaid and meet a nursing facility level of care; DPHHS says the waiver currently has waiting lists. A senior needing long-term care may use A&A and Medicaid together, but the two count money differently, so a few points are worth understanding.

  • A&A income doesn't automatically disqualify you from Montana Medicaid. When Medicaid decides whether an aged, blind, or disabled applicant qualifies, federal rules generally apply SSI's income methods, and under SSI's rules the Aid and Attendance allowance is not income; the basic pension is not covered by that exclusion. A state that uses more restrictive criteria than SSI can count income differently, so confirm Montana's treatment with DPHHS.
  • In a nursing facility, VA pension income above $90 a month counts toward your share of cost. Once you're eligible and living in a medical institution, income that was disregarded at the eligibility step must be counted. Montana's rule (DPHHS ABD 805-2) applies your gross monthly income, less allowable deductions, to the cost of care. It lets veterans keep up to $90 a month of VA pension income on top of the personal needs allowance and counts the rest, including an Aid and Attendance amount VA is still paying at the full rate. Montana's personal needs allowance is $50 a month. Federal rule 42 CFR 435.725(c) has the agency deduct five amounts in this order before anything goes to the facility: (1) a personal needs allowance, (2) a maintenance allowance for a spouse still at home, (3) a maintenance allowance for other family members at home, (4) incurred expenses for medical or remedial care that no third party will pay, including Medicare and other health-insurance premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance, and (5) any SSI or state supplement you keep receiving. Ask DPHHS for Montana's maintenance allowance figures.
  • A veteran with no spouse or child may see the pension cut to $90. If Medicaid covers a nursing-facility stay for a veteran with no spouse or child, or a surviving spouse with no child, VA pays no more than $90 a month in pension after the month of admission, and that $90 can't reduce what Medicaid pays the facility. The cap doesn't reach a State home for which VA makes per diem payments; there, pension above $90 a month counts only toward the home's cost of nursing care. Whether that exclusion fits a stay at a particular Montana veterans home is a question for an accredited Veteran Service Officer.
  • Waiver services at home follow a different rule. The nursing-facility rule above covers residents of medical institutions and intermediate care facilities, not someone getting home and community-based waiver services at home, so a waiver family should ask DPHHS which post-eligibility rule applies to them.
  • The two programs pay in different ways. A&A is paid to you as cash added to a monthly pension, so you decide which care costs it goes toward, while Medicaid pays for the services it covers.
  • The treatment is technical and turns on your exact circumstances. Because the income rules are detailed and depend on a household's specific situation, confirm how any VA pension income is treated with DPHHS or an accredited Veteran Service Officer who understands both programs before you rely on it.

If you're weighing how to protect savings while qualifying for long-term care, our guide to Medicaid planning strategies lays out the legal options.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does VA Aid and Attendance pay in Montana in 2026?

The maximum depends on your situation. The 2026 annual maximums are $29,093 for a veteran with no dependents, $34,488 for a veteran with a spouse, and $18,697 for a surviving spouse with no dependents. VA subtracts your countable income from the maximum, divides the rest by 12, and pays it monthly. These are federal rates, identical in Montana. Unreimbursed medical expenses above 5% of the maximum rate can lower your countable income and raise your benefit.

Where can I get free help applying in Montana?

Contact the Montana Veteran Affairs Division, which staffs accredited Veteran Service Officers through nine veteran service offices in Belgrade, Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Miles City, and Missoula. They prepare and submit VA claims for free. You should never pay to file an initial claim.

Can I receive Aid and Attendance and Montana Medicaid at the same time?

Yes. They're separate programs that a senior needing long-term care may use together. When Medicaid decides whether you qualify, SSI's income rules generally apply, and under them the Aid and Attendance allowance is not income, though the basic pension is not covered by that exclusion. Once you're eligible and in a nursing facility, Montana counts VA pension income above $90 a month, including an A&A amount VA is still paying in full, toward your share of cost, after deductions such as Montana's $50 personal needs allowance and an allowance for a spouse at home. A veteran with no spouse or child, or a surviving spouse with no child, whose nursing-facility care Medicaid covers generally sees VA cut the pension to $90 a month after the month of admission. Waiver services at home run under a different post-eligibility rule, so ask DPHHS which one applies. The rules are technical, so confirm the treatment with DPHHS or an accredited Veteran Service Officer before applying.

How long does it take to get approved?

Asked how long a decision takes, the VA's answer is "It depends." It processes claims in the order it receives them, unless a claim requires priority processing. Have the medical examiner be detailed on VA Form 21-2680 and submit all supporting documents at once, so VA has a complete claim to work from.

Learn More

MedicaidMedicaid Planning StrategiesSee which assets you keep, how the 5-year look-back works, and the legal moves that qualify you for Medicaid long-term care without losing the house. Care TypesAssisted Living in MontanaAssisted living in Montana: how DPHHS licenses facilities in categories A through D, what care costs, and what Medicaid and the Big Sky Waiver pay. Care TypesNursing Homes in MontanaNursing homes in Montana in 2026: costs run below the national median of about $114,975 a year for a semi-private room. Who pays and how to vet a facility. Care TypesMemory Care in MontanaMontana has no separate memory care license. Dementia care lives in assisted living as Category C, with enhanced staff training and a written health-care plan. Care TypesThe Cost of Senior Care in MontanaWhat senior care costs in Montana in 2026, on the CareScout 2025 survey: assisted living about $6,200 a month nationally, how Montana compares, and how to pay. Care TypesAssisted Living vs. Nursing Home in MontanaAssisted living vs. a nursing home in Montana: the care-level line, the cost gap (a nursing home runs about half again as much), and who pays each one.
Your next step Find personalized help applying for VA Aid and Attendance in Montana at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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