VA Pension and Survivors Pension Calculator

The household answers pick the maximum annual pension rate (MAPR) that applies.

These checks surface obvious barriers. They never replace VA's own service, relationship, disability, or character-of-discharge decision. Answer "Not sure" to keep the estimate with an assumption noted.

Add each income source with its own frequency; the worksheet annualizes it over the 12-month period and shows the yearly amount. Use gross amounts. Excluded kinds of income are listed in the ledger but never counted, and never subtracted twice.

Unreimbursed medical expenses are deductible only above a 5% floor, and that floor uses the base rate for your family size WITHOUT the Housebound or Aid and Attendance increase. Care in a facility or at home needs the extra questions; if the answers do not establish the rule, the amount stays visible under "needs review" and is left out of the automatic estimate.

Other deductions (no 5% floor)

Qualifying last-illness expenses, burial expenses not reimbursed under chapter 23, just debts not secured by property, and education or vocational-rehabilitation expenses.

One primary residence with its residential lot up to 2 acres, reasonable personal effects, and family vehicles are not assets, so they are never counted and the home's mortgage is not separately subtracted. Enter other real estate net of the debt tied to that property.

Transfers in the 36-month look-back

A gift, a sale below fair market value, or money moved into a trust or annuity can matter, but only the portion that would have pushed net worth over the limit is a "covered asset," and VA measures the 36-month window from the date the pension claim is filed. Incomplete facts produce a review result, never a guessed penalty.