VA incompetency judgment

Hello Jim,

I have a question about the VA incompetency certificate. So, if VA deemed you incompetent, are you incompetent for everything or just your VA money?

Thank you for answering my question.

Reply:

That's a great question.

Your answer can be found in 38 CFR 3.353(c). Click here http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/regs/38CFR/BOOKB/PART3/S3_353.DOC

In very broad terms, if a veteran appears to be unable to manage his or her finances, the vet is determined to be incompetent. The inability to manage finances is the distinction that VA uses to call a person incompetent. No other criteria is used.

It's a very odd rule. VA often tricks veterans during a C & P exam by having the examiner ask the veteran, "Who pays the bills at your house?" If the vet responds with, "Oh, my wife does all of that. I'm not very good with numbers so she writes all the checks and balances the checkbook," the VA will probably determine that veteran as incompetent.

The VA ignores the fact that most American households have only one person who writes checks and pays bills. It's simpler that way. The VA also ignores the fact that just because the veteran doesn't keep track of monthly finances, that doesn't mean he couldn't if he needed to.

The VA fiduciary appointment program isn't managed well. I encourage any vet who thinks VA is making a fiduciary appointment for the wrong reasons to appeal.

You can read a lot more about all this here http://www.vawatchdog.org/fiduciary-appointments.html


Source URL: https://www.statesidelegal.org/va-incompetency-judgment