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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/9/2008 11:58:26 AM
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| grandmother lives in my home.she has alzheimers.i have general power or attorney.my husband feels she should be paying rent to him to help with our bills or i should be paid for the care i provide. i use her money to pay for her medical,clothing,personal hygene.i also use it for groceries and oil for the household.before my grandmother moved in i did childcare in my home she was not tolerent of the children and i was forced to stop. my grandmothers children wanted to place her in a nursing when her son decided he no longer wanted to care for her in his home.i told them i did not agree and to allow her to live with me i was told to mind my own business.upon packing her up to go to the home they found out her ins. would not kick in for 6 months so they would have to pay for that and they did not have the money sooo thankfully they sent her to me. i want to do right by my grandmother.i understand what my husband is saying i just don't know what i'm allowed to do.
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Forum Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 6/23/2008 1:27:21 PM
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| I assume your grandmother may eventually need nursing home care and may, sooner or later, run out of funds and need Medicaid benefits. With that in mind, you should be charging your grandmother now, for legitimate services, and spending down her assets. If you don't charge for your services/time/etc., you only serve to assure your grandmother will pay it all to the nursing home before she can qualify for Medicaid. The Federal government states that relatives can legitimately be paid for their services. It is recommended that you draw up a Personal Services Agreement (I would not use the word "caretaker" and I would not title the agreement a "contract") in order that grandmother pay you for whatever you do for her. As long as the fees are reasonable, Medicaid usually won't try to argue with you over how she spent her money when the time comes to apply for Medicaid. As an example, if you were my client here in Louisville, Ky., where most Assisted Living facilities charge around $3,000 per month, I would suggest that you obtain a letter from her physician stating something to the effect that grandmother should not live alone and that you should consider an Assisted Living placement or Personal Care placement (even more expensive than Assisted Living). And I imagine you likely do things for your grandmother that staff in Assisted Living or Personal Care would not do--such as manage her business affairs (check writing, etc.), all transportation (medical appointments, social visits, church, etc.), laundry, assist her with dressing, bathing, etc., etc., etc. Assuming grandmother has funds to use up, you could easily charge more than Assisted Living because you and your family do everything an Assisted Living facility would do and more. In this example, I would suggest your agreement start out saying the agreement provides for room, board and necessary supervision. Throw in a few paragraphs to cover all the other things mentioned and set a monthly charge of $3,500. Get the agreement notarized (the agreement does not have to be done by an attorney) and start writing a check out of grandmother's account each month. You are protecting yourself & family, and grandmother really is getting a pretty good deal compared to what she would have to pay outsiders for the same services. Of course, if she doesn't have a lot of funds to use up, then your Personal Services Agreement may be much shorter (room and board) and the monthly charge may be only whatever her available income is. I hope this info is helpful to you. Joe Whitehouse, Medicaid Consultant, Louisville, KY.
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