Aid and Attendance for Surviving Spouse: VA Pension Rates and How to Apply

What Aid and Attendance Means for Survivors

Aid and Attendance (A&A) is an enhanced tier of the VA Survivors Pension — a monthly tax-free benefit for low-income surviving spouses of wartime veterans. The standard Survivors Pension helps cover basic living costs. Aid and Attendance adds a significantly higher payment when the surviving spouse needs regular help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, eating, or managing medications.

The 2026 Aid and Attendance rate for a surviving spouse with no dependents is $1,558.08 per month ($18,697 annually). Compare that to the basic Survivors Pension rate of $974.91 per month. The A&A tier pays 60% more — and it is entirely tax-free.

2026 Survivors Pension Rates

Your actual payment equals the MAPR ceiling minus your countable annual income, divided by 12. If your countable income is zero, you receive the full maximum. Most surviving spouses fall somewhere in between.

The Net Worth Limit

To qualify for any tier of Survivors Pension, your total net worth (assets plus annual income) must not exceed $163,699. The VA recalculates this annually with a cost-of-living adjustment.

Net worth includes bank accounts, investments, real property other than your primary residence, and retirement accounts. It does not include:

• Your primary home and the lot it sits on (regardless of value)
• One personal vehicle
• Personal effects and household goods

The VA also applies a 3-year lookback period for asset transfers. If you gave away or transferred assets to get below the $163,699 limit within the 36 months before applying, the VA may impose a penalty period of ineligibility.

How Medical Expenses Lower Your Countable Income

This is where many families leave money on the table. The VA allows you to deduct unreimbursed medical expenses above the medical deductible from your countable income. For 2026, the deductible is $584 for a surviving spouse with no dependent child and $765 with one dependent child; it does not increase for Aid and Attendance or housebound status. Those deductions can dramatically increase your monthly payment — sometimes pushing you from a small payment up to the full maximum.

Deductible expenses include:

• In-home caregiver costs (even family members, if paid)
• Assisted living facility fees
• Nursing home costs
• Medicare premiums (Parts B and D)
• Prescription co-pays
• Medical equipment
• Transportation to medical appointments

If your countable annual income is $15,000 and you have $8,000 in unreimbursed medical expenses, $7,416 is deductible after the $584 medical deductible. Your adjusted countable income is $7,584. At the A&A tier, your annual payment would be $18,697 minus $7,584 = $11,113, or about $926.08 per month.

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for the Survivors Pension with Aid and Attendance, you must meet all of the following:

Relationship requirements:

• You are the unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran
• You were married to the veteran at the time of death

Veteran's service requirements:

• If the veteran entered active duty on or before September 7, 1980, they generally served at least 90 days, including one day during a VA-covered wartime period
• If the veteran entered active duty after September 7, 1980, they generally served at least 24 months or the full period for which they were called or ordered, including one day during a VA-covered wartime period; exceptions apply
• A separate rule applies to some officers who began active duty after October 16, 1981, without 24 months of earlier active service
• The veteran was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable

Financial requirements:

• Net worth does not exceed $163,699
• Countable income (after medical deductions) falls below the MAPR ceiling

Medical requirements (for A&A tier):

• You need regular help with daily activities (eating, bathing, dressing, toileting)
• OR you are bedridden
• OR you are a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity
• A physician completes VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance) documenting your condition

How to Apply

File VA Form 21P-534EZ (Application for DIC, Survivors Pension, and/or Accrued Benefits). To claim the A&A tier, also submit:

• VA Form 21-2680 (completed by your physician)
• VA Form 21P-0969 (Income and Asset Statement in Support of Claim for Pension) when claiming Survivors Pension with a dependent child or when the current 21P-534EZ instructions require it
• Marriage certificate or other proof of marriage
• Veteran's DD Form 214
• Death certificate
• 12 months of medical expense records

Submit everything through a VSO representative (free) or directly to the VA Pension Intake Center. VA processes claims in the order received unless a claim qualifies for priority processing; the time depends on the claim and evidence needed.

An Intent to File (VA Form 21-0966) can preserve its received date if VA receives the completed claim within one year. For a survivor claim received within one year of the veteran's death, the benefit may be effective from the first day of the month of death.

The Veteran's Death Benefits & Survivor Claims toolkit includes a Survivors Pension Income Worksheet and a Medical Expense Deduction Tracker that calculate your exact countable income after deductions — so you know what to expect before you file.