VA Form 21-674c

[Elke]

I am working on completing form 21-674c, Request for Approval of School Attendance, with my daughter who is a high school senior.  She will turn 18 in February but will not finish high school until June 2020.  I have two questions.  First,  since she is not sure where she will attend college, do I need to complete this form again in the fall showing the school she is attending and using the expected graduation date from that program?  Also, I am confused about Part II (13).  She receives these benefits because her father is deceased.  She did not inherit an estate from him.  Do I need to fill in the value for his estate (which is still unsettled) that I inherited as the surviving spouse or are they only looking for assets that she has?  Thanks for any help.

[broncovet]

I will add, dont get confused here, VA likes that, when we are confused.  

You see, if (The Veteran) is disabled over 30 percent, he can get extra comp for a "school age" kid 18-23.  OR, the kid can get DEA Ch. 35, but not both!!!  (Compensation for dependents which goes to the Vetean who is disabled over 30 percent is limited to the childs age 18 EXCEPT, if the kid is in college, then you can still get compensation for a dependent in school from the dependents age of 18 to 23.)  

I hope I didnt confuse you more.  

Chapter 35 is seperate from dependents comp, and the ch. 35 payment goes directly to the dependent.  As always, VA loves to make it complicated so as to deny as many as possible.  

 

[brokensoldier244th]

If she's 18 now, or soon,  she qualifies for DEA while in HS.Check here to see if her school is on the list of schools registered with VA : https://inquiry.vba.va.gov/weamspub/buildSearchInstitutionCriteria.do

When you search make sure to select 'non-college degree'.  It does deduct from the 36 months she has available, though when she goes to school, but if your husband was 100% depending on where you live your state may waive part or all tuition anyway on that basis alone. Fill out the form based on her HS enrollment, etc, and take it to the school to have her counselor or whomever in her school is authorized to do VA benefits. Lots of schools have them, I found out with my son.  In NE, all State college systems will waive tuition (but not books/room/board) for any student dependent of a 100% svc connected veteran. Some states do less waiving at 100%, others start on a sliding scale at lower percentages. Check with whatever college she ends up attending and also your State (try googling tution waiver "whatever state you are in" disabled veteran dependent)

 

The 277 or whatever you get for her as a dependent that is 18 is going to pale in comparison to the 1200 or whatever it is now for DEA. 18+ compensation goes to 'you' or the veteran (in your case, you), DEA goes to her exclusively. Only you know your child well enough if they can get 1200-1400 a month tax free for the months leading up to college and save it so they still have most of it for school, especially since you have to re-apply when she changes from HS to college, so there will be a gap in payments. The money has to go directly to her in her account, though- it can't be deviated and held by the veteran or widow. However, once it hits her account what you two decided to do with it is up to you. When my son started getting his he wanted to use some of it to pay for things around the house- his cell phone, help with bills, whatever. We squeak by, so we told him no.

 

Remember- when she turns 18 you are going to have to re-declare her as a dependent over 18 but still in school to continue collecting the disability payment to you for having her as a dependent. If you opt the other way, then apply for DEA using her HS information, checking first to see if her HS is on the list. It may not be registered in WEAMS (the VA lookup tool for schools) because they may not have any staff that are registered as VA benefit reps. There is a process to get that going, too, but it will depend on the schools willingness to appoint someone and have them jump through whatever hoops it entails. 

Edited December 30, 2019 by brokensoldier244th

[brokensoldier244th]

26 minutes ago, broncovet said:

I dont think it will work to apply for Ch. 35, when you havent picked out a school yet.  Probably better is for him/her to apply and put in the "most likely" college, then change the college if/when necessary.   More on applying for Ch. 35 is here: https://www.benefits.va.gov/VOCREHAB/Dep_Edu_Assist_Chapter_35.asp

There are several steps to getting ch. 35 beneifts.  The first is to "establish eligiblity", which generally means your father or mother is either killed in service or your father is a 100 percent disabled Vet.   In typical VA style, they "love" to put millions of people "on hold" while they figure out a computer systems glitch, for example:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/veterans-dealing-with-delays-in-gi-bill-payments-due-to-it-glitch/

The above "glitch" was 2018.  My son went to college in 2010, and there were similar glitches then.  They never fixed it in at least 8 years.  Oh well, what do they care?  The employee pay arrives on time, so who cares about Vets delayed payments?  These students badly need the money and depend on a "highly inefficient" and even corrupt VA to get it.   

When my son got Ch. 35, DEA, it was somewhat different, I think.  

As usual, it took Va months and months to "approve" something he was pre approved for:  Ch. 35 as my son when it was established I was at 100 percent.  

And, not just the "first" Ch.35 DEA payments, the following school year is was similar delays.  

But he got a monthly living amount, and I dont think tuition itself was covered or reimbursed.  (Some states have college tuition waivers for Ch.35 recipients, but mine was apparently not one of those)

Still, it was wonderful, because he got something like 1400 per month, or there abouts, to go to college.  I think he got student loans, also, to go to college.  (I wasnt crazy about that..its like..well, that is what ch 35 is for.  Well he didnt want to live on 1400 per month, he had more expensive tastes.  I think his bicycle was 2000, which I thought was overly extravagant for someone in college...but what do I know?)  

At a minimum, his student loans were "less" because he had Ch. 35.  He got his Bachelors, married a MD in the Air Force.  Most of his wife's Dr. Friends "dont even know" that he isnt a Dr....his vocabulary is similar to that of an MD.  He is smart, in many ways, smarter than his wife, the MD.  

Now, they are paying off "her" student loans.  Come to think of it, she shouldnt have to be paying student loans while serving in the military, but what do I know?  There ought to be some law.....

She should get public service forgiveness for at least part of them, if she's an MD.