Veterans and Military Families
Ted Smith served as an active-duty JAG legal assistance officer with III Corps at Fort Hood before opening his Killeen practice in 1976. Veterans, retirees, spouses, and military families use this page to find the right starting point for disability, estate planning, probate, and VA/SSDI questions.
Fort Hood context
Veterans, retirees, civilian spouses, blended families, and special-needs households frequently need help across more than one area at once. A single call can cover disability, estate planning, probate, and benefit questions together.
SSD
VA disability pays a rating based on service-connected impairment, even if you are still working. SSDI pays based on whether your condition keeps you from working at all. You can qualify for one, the other, or generally both at the same time, and each system reviews its own medical records and work history separately.
Estate and probate
Beneficiary designations, deployments, remarriage, blended families, and retirement accounts like the TSP change what a standard document needs to cover. Probate after a service member or veteran's death often involves the same records and requires the same clear next steps.
How we help
Start with the issue that feels most urgent, then the firm can help route the next step.
For service members, veterans, retirees, and families working through a disability claim and the work-history evidence it requires.
VA disability rates service-connected impairment. SSDI requires proof you cannot work. Bring your VA rating decision, medical records, and work history to the first call so we can address both.
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and beneficiary planning for spouses, blended families, special needs, and deployment schedules.
Handling property, debts, heirs, and court requirements after a death, including cases involving VA and military benefits.
Why Ted Smith Law Group
Ted Smith's JAG service and Killeen practice history are documented, local, and easy to verify.
“Ted Smith is the best in the area! I can't say enough good things. The whole office cares about their clients and make sure your case is taken care of swiftly and done perfectly.”
Questions
No. VA disability compensation is based on your service-connected impairment rating and does not require you to be unable to work. SSDI is based on whether your condition keeps you from working at all. They are decided by different agencies using different evidence.
Generally, yes. VA disability compensation and SSDI do not offset each other, so a VA rating does not reduce your SSDI payment and vice versa. Each claim still has to be proven on its own with its own medical and work-history evidence.
Bring your VA disability rating decision if you have one, medical records and treatment history, discharge paperwork (DD-214), and a summary of your recent work history. If the call also involves estate planning or probate, bring beneficiary designations and any existing will.
Yes. Ted Smith's background as a Fort Hood JAG legal assistance officer and decades of Killeen practice cover SSD, VA/SSDI questions, estate planning, and probate for both military and civilian families in Central Texas.
Call or text the Killeen office and the team will get back to you, usually within one business day.
Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.
