Develop a rapport with your client by being less clinical and having more of a discussion. Are you listening to your client?

A proper intake is the most important step in nurturing a relationship with a future client.  The intake process supplies you with the information needed to file a claim on behalf of your client, but are you reading between the lines?

Example 1:

You ask John if he has any assets.  John gives you the information for an IRA with $70,000 in it and a checking account balance of $10,000 and his home that will not be counted as an asset.

When you ask if he is married he says that he is divorced.  He goes on  to tell you that it’s been a ruff time for him but he wants to avoid any problems with his ex-wife so they left both of their names on the house that she is living in.

Hopefully you realize that half of that home’s value is considered an asset when applying for VA pension.

Example 2:

Oscar is a widower.  As you are doing an intake you hear children in the background.

I say to Oscar, “You sound like you have your hands full today.”

Oscar tells you that those are his daughters.  They are 3 and 6.  He married a younger woman and started a family late in life.

Did you count his dependents on his application?

Example 3:

Jack is a Vietnam Veteran.  His daughter and his grandson lives with him.  He has custody of the grandson.  His daughter acts as a caregiver to him.  While talking about his daughter he mentions that she does his banking for him.

When asked about his assets he says that he has his home, a truck, $100,000 in an IRA, $10,000 in his checking account and $38,000 in a savings account.

If his daughter does his banking is her name on his accounts?  She ends up only being on his checking account.  The VA will not count half of the balance in the checking account, but that would still put him $14,000 over the acceptable assets.  He can not add his daughter to the savings account without the look-back counting $18,000 as a gift to her.  Jack can pay all legal fees up front and pay any credit card debt to spend down his total assets.