Veterans Urged to Beware of Benefits Scams
May 31st 2011
As an elder law attorney accredited by the VA, I've run accross numerous accounts of financial advisor/annuity salesman preying on veterans to sell a quick annuity while bungling their VA benefits application. In the most recent case in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a financial advisor had agreed to help a veteran with the veteran's VA application, but never submitted the application, most likely because the veteran didn't have enough assets to make money on selling the veteran an annuity. You can read the article here: Veterans Urged to Beware of Benefits Scams. This isn't the first instance of annuity salesman fleecing veterans; hop over to our other blog, Michigan Elder Law Center, and you can see numerous blog posts addressing this very issue, including a link to an AARP article that discusses the VA benefit scams. It's important for veterans and families of veterans to understand that there is free help at the local Veteran Service Organization or at the local county Veteran's services office. We have one in Oakland County. Here is the contact informaiton for the Oakland County Veteran's Services office: Pontiac OfficeNorth Office Building 26 East 1200 North Telegraph Pontiac, Michigan, USA, 48341-0468 248-858-0785 - map Southeast Oakland1151 Crooks Road Troy, Michigan, USA, 48084-7136 248-655-1250 - map West Oakland - TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM ONLY1010 East West Maple Walled Lake, Michigan, USA, 48390-3588 Please Call Pontiac Office - map Attorney Christopher J. Berry is a Metro Detroit estate planning and elder law lawyer who helps families, seniors, veterans and business owners with their important legal needs. Oakland County estate planning lawyer, Christopher Berry is a partner in the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke Berry PLLC. Mr. Berry practices in the areas of estate planning, business, probate, veterans benefits & Medicaid planning.