From what I have read, she will receive his SS as it was considerably more than hers. Will she receive the full VA benefit also? The MC place she lives was giving us a discount with both of them in care, but now her cost is going up substantially-$700 per month. Is this unusual?
Who told you it's too late to get advice, if your FIL only died less than a month ago?
MIL should receive/received December's check because its for November earnings. She should not receive a January check for Dad. If she does, it should not be used, it will eventually be taken back.
Call your local SS office. With COVID the offices may not be open to the public but caseworkers should be there. Ask how Mom will now get the adjustment. There is a formula but basically her SS will drop off and she will get Dads. Too long to really explain. But thats what the rep told me when I signed up.
When it comes to VA you need to call them and tell them Dad has died. What they received was probably as a couple. From what I remember the non-vet spouse gets less than the would Vet get alone.
Is the $700 more than they were paying as a couple. If so, that does not sound right. Lets say for a single person the cost would be 5k a month. Since Mom and Dad shared a room, they were only paying 8K instead of 10k they would have paid singly. Moms should now come down to 5k as a single person. Not go up to 8700? That doesn't make sense. In Moms AL they had different size rooms and paid accordingly. If ur Moms AL is like this, then maybe move Mom to a smaller room.
BUT
if in the prior month paid the deceased did not live till the end of the month, SSA will do a clawback of that months payment to the deceased from the bank acct that gets was direct deposited into.
BUT
the surviving spouse in theory simultaneously gets their acct updated to reflect the higher SS payout. But it could have a delay. So imo you kinda need to the acct to stay still with no transactions or if your mom has bills autopaid from this account, needs to be enough $ to cover all.
My mom had a federal civil service annuity as well. Feds took way way longer for anything. When my dad died, took maybe 3-4 mos to get done but it was only a name change, no clawback. Civil service is different than VA but VA seems to move glacially for Aid & Attendance, I bet it’ll take 3-4 months for surviving spouse stuff.
For the future, pls pls keep in mind that the clawback happens. When my mom finally died it was almost at the end of the month & her SS & fed annuity both paid on the 3rd the next month. So she got those 2 checks the month after she’d died & both did a clawback..... SS pulled $ later that month but the fed took over 3 months. If the $ is not there, both will do this over & over & each time her bank probably places a NSF fee on the account. If there's bills on auto pay and those too get NSF & they may place a fee on the account as well. Stuff like this is small but does add up and can be a PIA to deal with. Especially if $ is tight AND your not an authorized user on the accounts or have Letters Testamentary from Probate court that names you as Executor.
On the $700 increase, yeah that’s kinda standard. Just what the amount is will be in the MC contract they signed. If you do not have your own copy of the contract, pls pls use this as an opportunity to get it.
Also I’d suggest that you look at mom’s finances to see if she can actually with just her new SS and her VA A&A truly afford her MC. If not, I’d have a clear discussion with her MC as to if:
- LTC Medicaid program covers MC in your state
OR
- if it’s that there are Medicaid waivers for MC in your state and if this MC participate and what it’s looking like for waiting list to get one of thier MC Medicaid waiver beds.
If Medicaid doesn’t cover MC, then find out if this MC has an affiliation with a NH that your mom could go into as a skilled nursing care resident and apply for LTC Medicaid to pay for it. Her health chart may need to get beefed up a bit over time to show “at need” for skilled nursing care. Her MC has dealt with this before, they should / will have suggestions. Good luck.
Check with the mortuary to see if they handled that paperwork and if they know about the VA benefits. I'll bet they do.