Omg-Sue

They dont like to pay out those extra bennies for the 100%. That can add up fast. Congrats anyway! Love these great stories.

Hello Sidney, they said A DECISION has been made about who the fiduciary will be, and they are reviewing it for 40-60 days before we get a letter. I hope they were waiting for Freeman vs Shenseki outcome before making this final. Perhaps they will make it a kindlier outcome. Sure, am holding my breath! haha

YEAH!!!!!! They made a decision on 042511 for K but it has 40-60 days to review. I hope they were waiting for this case before finalizing the decision. Great news!!!! In part states: "The Secretary opposes the petition on the grounds that the determination of whom to appoint as fiduciary to manage the petitioner's VA benefits is a matter within the sole discretion of the Secretary and outside the jurisdiction of this Court or any Court. For the reasons that follow, the Court grants the petitioner's request for extraordinary relief and will issue a writ of mandamus." and "Regardless of what the Secretary decides to do, it would benefit the system for VA to explicitly address the relationships that are recognized elsewhere, thereby saving the veteran up to 4% of his or her benefits that is customarily charged by the VA-appointed fiduciary. In general, veterans will be better served if their funds– regardless of the source– are managed by a single individual who can manage them intelligently based upon a real familiarity with the veteran's situation and needs." Jim Strickland (VAWatchdog) kindly gave me a heads up on this early this AM and full story is at VAWatchdog Today. I will read it all and add more here later. This is a BIGGY. The VA has had TOO much control over fiduciary matters. And they accepted NO responsibility at all when VA- appointed fiduciarys could not account for the veteran's compensation properly 8in many cases. This is a victory for incompetent veterans and any vet could someday find themselves in a situation whereby they cannot control their own compensation funds. http://www.vawatchdo...Dec_4-26-11.pdf

Wow! Flores' office called & asked K to sign a privacy notice & he will take our case! I do hope you guys think this is a small success. Please comment. So far, they are holding K's retro & claim he is incompetent to manage it. Another success: got all my ChampVa documents today & listened to SVR radio about this (gee, a whole hour). We both learned LOTS!

We just got a nice escrow refund check from Wells Fargo, and of course a new lower mortgage payment. I am also in Texas and the county apprasial district office was extremely helpful to us getting that exemption. We hope this generous law is never repealed!

Yes John; maybe Waco RO reads this too. A bit different, but still thieving. Glad Rockford was caught.

First of all congrats from us! Carlie's advice is the same we got from our lawyer/advocate. Just coolin our heels & waiting for them to appoint a fiduciary. If it is spousal appointment, ok. Otherwise THEN Mr Link said to contact him. Maybe they will lose our incompetency declaration since they lose so much paperwork. We also figure that program is in such trouble for them, they might wait a while till cases are decided. Just my opinion. We did get the increase on April 1 check. Just that much caught up all the bills. And yes we were told the fiduciary must have a separate account in her name. Hope this helps Your letter was similar to K's, so here we go again, waiting!

We received advice today that we should just pay the bills as usual and be responsible as usual; file NOD and wait. And not to 'borrow trouble' as Gran used to say. Everything legal and honest. Sounds good to me.

We all want to be there in the cheering section. Go get 'em Carlie!

Oh Chuck, this nightmare is never going to stop, will it? K has requested myself as fiduciary (as suggested by Mo DAV SO). However, in k's file is a letter (also suggested by another DAV SO, Waco) from my civilian PCP to whom it may concern: Sue, K's wife, has been dx'd with beginning Alzheimers. In theory that was supposed to hurry up their decision. Didnt work. We live in Waco now. My point is this: a Vet with paranoid schizophrenia & wife with Alzheimers. No way they will let me do this. Now my daughter has a responsible position at a Waco Hospital and we could ask for them to appt her? Is that just a letter or form? About the lawyer, he is with Blinded Veterans Assn & he is in Denver. I asked him about a NOD & he said to wait till they actually appoint someone. By your advice, we will be in deep credit doo-doo if I wait. Ok,so I will get going with NOD. Thanks Chuck & everyone else can chime in here; we need all the help we can get. Oh yes, do I move his money to my account? or mattress?

Yes the award letter said he is 100% rated, instead of 70% plus TDIU. I guess he couldnt be unemployable and incompetent at the same time?

Stretch, sorry I did not get back to you. This ChampVa info was exactly what I needed. I am sending virtual peach cobbler to you!

I stayed up late to check the bank & glad I did! K's direct deposit was for the 100% amount. All the fuss about fiduciaries is about the RETRO money only. Nobody has called, written, or answered and questions. Maybe it's like Berta said they should trash this program anyway. It's a broken program. I cannot start to list the Hadit friends here who have helped us thru it all (so many). Not only good advice, legal information, but you all kept us from 'losing it' while waiting these 10 months for a decision. I know Sidney is going thru this too and wish the best for him. At first they said all K's money would be seized. Now how the heck am I going to pay bills? But you guys kept us cool and some of it turned out to be O.K. Now we will stay with you for the rest of the story, and your stories.

Hi Sidney, we have talked about this before and I might have some kind of answer about this on Friday. Guess you might also. We have tried to ask many people, but seems that competency thing is in an insulated world. Today letters came for appts to MHC and later with a PSY at MHC. I do hope they are trying to kick that incompetent label. Lots of luck to you.

oops the question came from bigoc, not Ham!

Hamslice, my husband (now 100% S/C) has always used his Va income, his SSA, and an annuity check for income proof (Also they add my SSA with which I can buy a bag of peanuts). He has good credit and too many credit cards. Just my opinion, but lenders see disability payments as a reliable source of income. VARO printed his income letter in about 5 minutes in person. Hope this helps

Fairly new information for Vets about the woes of the fiduciary system which I believe they are using to boost the economy (theirs). Jim Strickland writes about current cases in court and real experiences of Vets being declared incompetent. At the end of the column (very long) he lists a series of steps to take if this happens to you. I have this info on my office wall because we (husband & I) and just beginning this particular fight. Check it out at VAWatchdog.org We never knew this was so common until it happened to us.

We got off the subject a bit. About the fiduciary program.....best info I have read is at VAWatchdog.org and click on fiduciary. Outright theft, fraud, and mismanagement. No accountability at all. At the end of the column (its long) Jim gives a series of steps to take when this all begins. Very good advice. Some of these folks are no friend of the disabled Vet. Of all the dumbest things, I moved to Waco, Tx just in December! The most notorious RO ever! But K sends his heartfelt thanks to all of you who have 'gone before' and share information with us. I am read to file NOD about his incompetency.

Congrats to you! I know how that feels. We are all happy for you.

I was thinking Medicare with ChampVa would pay everything. Thanks for the advice. My meds run $26,000 a year before medicare pays. I did have 'extra help' before K was awarded 70%. Now I am too rich, lol. I think my Humira is $750 a month. This is why I have had NO meds since December because my co-pay was $688. Looking forward to getting that insurance card.

Chuck & Stillhere, I am proud to have all you guys in our corner. I am positive the Pro Bono will hear from me tomorrow. Advice from the HADIT family has kept me going. K has so much 'control' meds that he is handling this better than me. I do love a challenge but this one is the worst I ever had in my 64 years. I hope the current cases going on right now just blows this program apart. Buncha BS I'd say. Thanks again guys, I'll keep you posted.

Phillip I think the intentions of this program started out well because homeless vets were being schmoozed by 'nice' folks who helped them get their claims processed & then skipped out with the money. Some addicts & alcoholics actually do need some help managing. But K has an excellent track record with our lives. Exceptions were PS episodes where he was taken to the emergency room. But he has ALWAYS let me handle the money because he is blind, not because of his SC condition. We discuss all expenditures; I even read the grocery receipt to him. He looks up the bank account on computer daily. It's been over 20 years since he stopped smoking and drinking (at the same time). Thats also a pretty good reference I think. Has no bad habits, controls his diet/chloresterol. How the heck is he incompetent. Also, as someone suggested, maybe he IS incompetent, so let me keep handling the finances. We both have good credit, just bought a home in Tx & still have our Mo home rented out. The letter said we can ask for an in-person hearing. Yes we will! We can have friends/fam speak for K. Yes, we will fight this. Dont you think it would be demoralizing to tell a depressed man he is incompetent? Sidney, No one has come to the house yet to 'explain' how they are here to help. As I read again & again these papers, it seems the VA has this idea all sewed up anyway. They dont seem to care if we fight this; it was pre-won already. How discouraging. K wrote out the request yesterday for me to be the fidicuary and DAV SO sent that in. Thank you to everyone who is trying to help. We need all the help you can offer it seems. Like I said before at least I can get ChampVa now.

Hi Carlie, K is getting disability comp & filed for TDIU to make 100%. He did ask by letter for me to be the fiduciary just today. VAWatchdogtoday.org has some disturbing experiences related by vets on this subject.

Sidney, what was your outcome? I would love to tell their Social Worker (who will come to the house) a few choice words, but that would make it worse. Were you able to keep your wife as money-manager? K wrote a request for me to be his fiduciary and we wouldnt mind our oldest daughter doing this.

We got the brown envelope. However, we get the benefits but not the money. They are holding it until they find a fiduciary to manage the money. ALL OF IT. They claim he is incompetent. Includes the 70% he was already getting. We will have to ask for every penny. I appreciate the insurance so very much because I have not had any of my meds since December. ChampVa is the answer to a prayer. K already got his free hunting/fishing license today. The hunting part is a hoot 'cause he is blind. Blind Rifle Association! We're not desperate for money at all but the plan had been to pay off everything we owe with the retro. K is afraid to object as he fears they will take it all back. His claim was for TDIU but they gave him 100% P/T instead. Whats the difference? HADIT information has been wonderful. Berta told me about Watchdogtoday.org and I read everything I could find there on fiduciary assignment. OMG, what happened to Democracy? Good intentions gone terribly wrong. Overall, I am so glad this is finally over. Or is it? Nobody wants some stranger to have their nose in their business. Oh yes, the fiduciary gets 3% per month out of the pension. Not much except for the retro which was about $12,000. All these years I have managed K's money for nothing! I coulda made 3% too. LOL