organization, amounts in joint accounts in banks and similar institutions acquired by reason of death of the other joint owner, and profits from sales of properties, and medical expenses (must exceed at least 5% of the annual pension rate).
Once VA determines you're totally disabled or 65 or older, they calculate the pension by totaling all of your countable income, then subtracting any exclusions. The remaining amount of income is subtracted from the annual Pension amount, which is determined by the number of dependents you have, if any, and whether or not you're entitled to the Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefit (see down below). The amount arrived at after this is then divided by 12 and rounded down to the nearest dollar amount, which is then your monthly pension.
If you're 65 or older and have limited or no income (and of course meet the other criteria), you automatically qualify for the pension benefit. If you're under 65 and totally disabled, VA will determine the individual evaluations of all of your disabilities just as they do with service-connected disabilities based on the rating schedule. If your evaluations combine to the schedular evaluation of 100%, you will be awarded the Pension benefit. If your disabilities do not combine to the 100% evaluation, but you have one disability evaluated at 60% or more, or have multiple disabilities with one being evaluated at 40% and the others combined with it bringing your total combined evaluation up to at least 70%, VA will then determine whether those disabilities render you unemployable. If they do, VA will award the Pension benefit. VA is really liberal in applying the IU criteria to Pension applicants because the Pension benefit is a needs based program.
Aid and attendance is a benefit paid in addition to the pension. The eligibility criteria are;