VA Aid and Attendance in Virginia (2026)

In 2026, VA Aid and Attendance can bring a married Virginia wartime veteran's pension up to $2,874 a month when they need daily help with tasks like bathing, dressing, or eating.1 That ceiling is VA's $34,488 annual rate for a veteran with a spouse, and VA pays it monthly after subtracting the household's countable income.1

This guide walks through who qualifies, how much you can receive, how to apply, and where to get free help filing in Virginia, including from the Virginia Department of Veterans Services and its statewide network of benefit offices.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• What Is Aid and Attendance?
• Do You Qualify?
• 2026 Aid and Attendance Rates
• The Net Worth Limit and 3-Year Lookback
• How to Apply for VA Aid and Attendance in Virginia
• Free Help in Virginia: DVS and Veterans Service Offices
• How VA Aid and Attendance Works with Virginia Medicaid
• Frequently Asked Questions

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 caps the entire pension, and it is not a number you add to the basic rate.1 The pension isn't the only route, though: VA Form 21-2680 covers an Aid and Attendance amount added to monthly compensation as well as to pension benefits, so a veteran who receives VA disability compensation rather than a pension uses that form too. This guide follows the pension route, which is the one VA describes for veterans who get a VA pension.3

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).2

VA pays the pension, at the Aid and Attendance rate, in monthly installments, money a family can put toward care at home, in assisted living, or in a nursing home.1

Do You Qualify?

To receive Aid and Attendance, you have to meet all four of these requirements.2

1. Wartime service, and no dishonorable discharge. The veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge. The length of service the VA requires turns on when active duty started, not on which war the veteran served in, and any one of these three branches satisfies it.

• Started active duty before September 8, 1980: at least 90 days of active duty, with at least one day during a wartime period.
• Started active duty as an enlisted person after September 7, 1980: generally at least 24 months, or the full period for which they were called or ordered to active duty, with at least one day during wartime.
• Was an officer who started active duty after October 16, 1981, and had not previously served on active duty for at least 24 months, with at least one day during wartime.

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.

2. Age, disability, or care status. The veteran must meet at least one of four alternatives: be at least 65 years old; have a permanent and total disability; be a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or be getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. Any one of the four satisfies this requirement on its own, so a wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI qualifies here without any adjudicated permanent and total 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. It counts your assets and income, and your dependents', combined. Your primary residence, your car, and basic home items don't count.1

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, worth up to $18,697 a year in 2026 for a surviving spouse with no dependents.1

2026 Aid and Attendance Rates

The Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) for your category is the maximum amount of pension payable, not a check anyone receives on top of their income: the VA pays the difference between your income for VA purposes and that limit, so the lower your countable income, the closer your payment comes to the ceiling. These rates are federal, so they're the same in Virginia as anywhere else.1

Every figure above is a ceiling, not an award. The VA publishes these rates as annual maximums but pays pension monthly: under 38 CFR 3.273, it subtracts your countable income from the annual rate and divides what's left by 12.1

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 divides by 12 and pays in monthly installments.1 Unreimbursed medical expenses can lower your countable income, which raises the payment, but only the portion above 5% of your MAPR counts. The VA puts it this way: you may deduct only the amount that is above 5% of your MAPR, which is $872 for a veteran with no spouse or child.1

The Net Worth Limit and 3-Year Lookback

The 2026 net worth limit is $163,699. VA's net worth calculation is not an assets-only test: it combines your assets and your dependents' assets (savings, investments, and property other than your home) with your annual income. Comparing savings alone against $163,699 gives you the wrong answer.1

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

What doesn't count: your primary residence, your car, and basic home items. The house you live in doesn't push you over the limit. That home may also be exempt from local real estate tax. Under Code of Virginia 58.1-3219.5, a veteran the VA has rated 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total, who occupies the property as their principal place of residence is exempt from real property tax on that dwelling and the land it sits on, up to one acre. A veteran rated below 100 percent whom the VA rates at 100 percent for individual unemployability also qualifies when that rating is permanent and total, according to the Virginia Attorney General and DVS. It is not automatic: you file with your locality's commissioner of the revenue (or the officer your locality designates), not with the VA.5 See our guide to Virginia's disabled veteran property tax exemption for how a surviving spouse qualifies and how to file.

The 3-Year Lookback Rule

The VA reviews any assets you transferred for less than fair market value in the three years before VA receives your pension claim.2 If you gave away or sold assets below market value to get under the net worth limit, the VA may impose a penalty period of up to five years during which you won't receive pension benefits. Moving 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 benefit, in which case VA counts it as net worth.2

If you're thinking about transferring assets, talk to a VA-accredited attorney or an elder law attorney first.

How to Apply for VA Aid and Attendance in Virginia

The steps below are the pension route, the one VA lays out for a veteran who gets a VA pension or is applying for one. It takes two forms and a medical exam, plus an optional third form if you need more time to gather documents. A veteran whose Aid and Attendance would be added to monthly VA compensation instead still needs the examination form in step 2, but not the pension application in step 3.3

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 Virginia: DVS and Veterans Service Offices

You don't have to file this claim alone. Free help is available across Virginia, and DVS highly encourages veterans to get it before filing a claim.4

The Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS)

The Virginia Department of Veterans Services, known as DVS, is the state agency that provides benefits claims assistance to veterans and their families, including help with VA pension claims like Aid and Attendance. DVS doesn't decide your VA claim itself (the federal VA does that), but it handles disability claims and pensions, and many of its team members are veterans or military spouses themselves who have personal experience with the claims process and receive comprehensive training. All DVS benefits services are provided free of charge.4

DVS also operates state veterans care centers that provide affordable long-term skilled nursing care, dementia and memory care, and short-term rehabilitative care for Virginia's veterans. DVS's overview page lists four centers: the Sitter & Barfoot Veterans Care Center in Richmond (a 200-bed facility of single-occupancy rooms on the campus of the Richmond VA Medical Center, with a secure dementia and memory care unit), the Davis & McDaniel Veterans Care Center in Roanoke (a 204-bed facility that opened on Veterans Day, 1992 as the Virginia Veterans Care Center), the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center in Virginia Beach (a 128-bed facility of all-private rooms), and the Puller Veterans Care Center in Fauquier County near Warrenton (a 128-bed facility of all private rooms, organized into households and neighborhoods around a central community center). DVS's own pages don't settle whether Puller is admitting residents yet, and no DVS page says which centers are currently accepting applications, so confirm with the center before applying. To join the Puller waitlist, DVS asks prospective residents to call (540) 680-5200 or email PVCCAdmissions@dvs.virginia.gov. Admissions criteria include an honorable discharge from the U.S. Armed Forces, Virginia residency at the time of admission or entry into active duty from Virginia, and meeting the medical requirements for nursing home care.6 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 centers.

Virginia Veterans Service Offices

DVS delivers its free claims help through a statewide network of 38 benefit service offices across the Commonwealth, some of which also serve veterans at itinerant sites.4 A DVS veterans services representative can help with disability claims and pensions, at no cost to you. Veterans in Virginia are highly encouraged to seek that assistance before filing a claim, which DVS says has a number of advantages over self-filing.4

To find the office nearest you, start with the DVS Benefits and Services directory, then schedule an appointment; DVS asks a new client to bring commonly needed documents such as a DD-214 and a photo ID to the first visit.4

Virginia's Veteran Population

The VA's National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics puts Virginia's veteran population at 670,834 for 2025 in its FY2025 Virginia state summary, down from 678,148 for 2024, and 38 percent of them (255,145 veterans) are 65 or older. These are modelled estimates rather than a head count.7 With that many older veterans, it's worth contacting your 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. VA-accredited attorneys may charge for appeals, but the initial claim filing should be free through DVS or a Veterans Service Organization like the VFW, American Legion, or DAV.

How VA Aid and Attendance Works with Virginia Medicaid

Aid and Attendance and Virginia Medicaid, called Cardinal Care and administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), are run separately, under different income rules, so coordination matters for a veteran who needs both. Cardinal Care provides long-term services and supports to eligible individuals, and DMAS says special rules apply to people seeking them.4

• On the VA side, medical costs lower your income. VA lets you deduct unreimbursed medical expenses from your income for VA purposes, but only the amount above 5% of your MAPR.4
• At the Medicaid eligibility step, Virginia sets A&A aside. DMAS's eligibility manual (section M1460.610 C) says VA payments for Aid and Attendance or housebound allowances, and VA payments for unusual medical expenses, are not income when determining eligibility as an institutionalized individual, for every covered group except the F&C medically needy groups. Virginia is also a 209(b) state, so an applicant whose income is above the eligibility level can spend down to it by incurring medical and remedial care expenses that no health insurance covers. How this applies to you depends on the Medicaid pathway and is decided case by case.4
• After eligibility, whether A&A counts toward patient pay depends on your household. Once a person is eligible and receiving long-term care, DMAS calculates a monthly patient pay, the share of the care cost paid from the person's own income. Its manual (M1470.100) counts VA Aid and Attendance and pension payments above $90 a month toward patient pay for a veteran with no community spouse or dependent child, a surviving spouse with no dependent child, or a veteran's dependent child. It counts none of those VA payments for a veteran who has a community spouse or dependent child, or for a surviving spouse with a dependent child, and that applies to all long-term-care recipients, including residents of a Veterans Care Center.4
• Deductions come before the bill. For a nursing-facility resident, the federal post-eligibility rule for a 209(b) state like Virginia (42 CFR 435.733) requires deductions, in order, including a personal needs allowance, an amount for a spouse or family at home, and incurred medical or remedial care expenses no third party pays. That rule doesn't itself govern home and community-based waiver services, and it doesn't state the amounts Virginia allows, so ask DMAS which deductions apply to your case, and in what amounts, before you budget on the gross figure.4
• For a veteran with no spouse or child, or a surviving spouse with no child, VA's own payment can drop to $90. Federal law (38 U.S.C. 5503(d)) says that once such a person is covered by Medicaid for nursing-facility care, VA pays no more than $90 a month in pension for any period after the month of admission, and the facility's Medicaid payment can't be reduced by that $90.4 The cap doesn't reach a veteran who has a spouse or child, or a stay in a State home for which VA makes nursing-home per diem payments; a separate federal rule applies pension above $90 to that State home's cost of care.4 If the veteran is in a Virginia veterans care center, confirm with DMAS and an accredited Veteran Service Officer which rule covers the stay.4
• Get your specific situation reviewed. A veteran receiving A&A who also needs Medicaid long-term care should have the income and unreimbursed-medical-expense treatment reviewed for their case, ideally with a DVS benefits representative and DMAS, before filing.4

For the bigger picture of how to protect assets and plan ahead, start with our guide to Medicaid planning strategies.

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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.