The VA projects that the number of living veterans will continue to decline over the next 25 years, Katherine Schaeffer observes in a piece by the Pew Research Center, and the share of the U.S. population with military experience has declined to less than 6%. “Thank you for your service” remarks reach fewer ears nowadays, an article by Michaela Estruth in RedLion points out.
As if this calendar year, fewer than 45,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II are still alive. Since almost all of those live outside of our state, we are not serving their needs at Geyer Law. But, while our work in the area of veterans benefits has declined compared to earlier years, we do provide assistance to veterans and their surviving spouses here in Indiana by helping them qualify for VA benefits through the Veteran’s Benefits Administration.
Veterans with service-connected disabilities may have additional planning considerations, Chris Czaplak, retired navy officer and now attorney in Arizona, points out. In addition to planning concerns that civilians have, veterans need to integrate VA benefits with other government benefits. Czaplak specifically mentions two tools we often use in our work at Geyer Law when working with veterans with disabilities, including:
- Supplemental needs trusts (these planning devices help provide for people with disabilities while protecting their government entitlements)
- ABLE accounts (Just last year, significant updates were made to ABLE rules in our state.)
At Geyer Law, “Thank you for your service” remarks continue to reach our ears!
– by Nicole Eckert, Attorney with Rebecca W. Geyer & Associates
