Elder Law Answers
Is an Agent Under a Power of Attorney Entitled to Compensation?
My wife and I have are agents under my 86-year-old mother's durable power of attorney. We are her primary caregivers becau...
Read moreHow Long Does an Agent Under a Power of Attorney Need to Keep Financial Documents?
- August 5th, 2016
Q
As an agent under a power of attorney, how far back do I have to keep documentation for accounting purposes? I have been my mother's agent since 2004. My mother is in a nursing home and has enough assets to pay for her care with her private funds for at least a few more years. Because of the five-year Medicaid look-back period, I have been discarding all records that go beyond five years and have been doing so on a monthly basis. Do I need to hold onto everything, no matter how old it is, just in case of an audit (for example, at the request of my siblings) or is five years of recordkeeping sufficient?
A
There is no hard and fast answer to your question. For tax purposes, people often recommend keeping seven years of records. For Medicaid purposes five years is enough, as you are doing. In terms of your siblings, it would be best to ask them. These days most of the information is available online, so you shouldn't need to save more than seven years of records -- and five years should be fine. If your siblings want more, perhaps you could send the statements that are more than five years old to them to review before they discard them if they choose.
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Ashburn, VA
Jeffrey Hammond
Hammond and Associates, LLC, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Probate
Bethesda, MD
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Jeffrey Hammond
Hammond and Associates, LLC, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Probate
For Jeffrey Hammond, the practice of Elder Law is personal. Jeff’s many years of experience in law and in business did not prepare him for the crisis he faced in 2005 and 2006 when his father suffered a stroke and both of his parents suffered from dementia and other medical problems. At that time, Jeff began an i...
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Samantha Fredieu
Hale Ball Carlson Baumgartner Murphy PLC
Attorney Samantha Simmons Fredieu is an associate at Hale Ball. Ms. Fredieu graduated magna cum laude from Vermont Law School where she was the symposium editor on the Vermont Law Review, a production editor on the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, and a member of the Moot Court Advisory Board. She has clerked for...
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Loretta Williams
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Loretta Morris Williams is a certified elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Ms. Williams was admitted to the Council of Advanced Practitioners, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) in 2012. She serves as President of the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Ms. Willia...
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