What if I have too many assets to qualify for a VA pension?

Just as the Medicaid qualification, you will need to divest the excess assets.  The good news is that, unlike Medicaid, the VA does not penalize you for the divestment.  So, instead of waiting up to five years, as with Medicaid qualification, you can be qualified for a VA pension immediately after the divestment.

The other difference from Medicaid is that the VA does not allow you to retain a life estate in any real estate other than your personal residence, and does not allow you to put assets into a trust from which you receive income.  Basically, if you get income from it, the asset counts as being owned by you for the purpose of determining benefit qualification.