Should I ask for fiduciary appt after application has been submitted?

[Deg9]

We submitted Mom's A&A application and it was rec'd at the VA on Dec 28, 2010.  Mom signed all the forms but we did not ask for a fiduciary to be appointed.  The doctor stated on VA Form 21-2680 that "Claimant does not have the cognitive acuity to pay bills on a timely or repetitive basis."  Should we submit a form now asking that my sister be appointed as fiduciary?  or should we wait for notification?  We just don't want to waste time if we should be sending in forms.  We also don't want to cause any roadblocks with a request if it's not necessary.  Does anyone have any advice?  Thanks.

[vetadmin]

NO!!

You don't want to red flag the application.  The VA will make a ruling on her competency based on the dr's evaluation.

If they find her incompetent, then, and only then do you address the issue of Fiduciary.

[Deg9]

 Thank you so much!  So nice to have a straight-forward answer to a question.  I'll let you know how it all turns out.  deg9

[vetadmin]

You're welcome, and hope you can come back soon with a success story to share.

[AngelaManz]

You don't ask for a fiduciary to be appointed. The VA won't determine whether she needs one until her application is approved (otherwise, they could be wasting their time if it wound up being denied).  Once it's approved, they will send you the approval letter which will have language stating that she is approved, pending a finding of incompetency.  The paperwork to appoint a fiduciary will be included and you can take it from there.