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Caregiver Agreements
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For most, a family caregiver
is usually the child of an elderly parent. Often it is a
full time - unpaid job. While we love our parents and
grandparents, no one is ever prepared for the burden of
providing elder care. It can be a physical, emotional, and
financial drain. It also creates some fundamental
unfairness among children as the child providing the care
gives up a lot.
One of our colleagues relates this
story about his client, Ellen.
Ellen was recovering
at home in Massachusetts for weeks after a major hip
replacement. Ellen, 82 and independent, underestimated how
long the recovery would take. She was not ready for round
the clock nursing home care, but she needed assistance
taking her medication on time and getting back and forth
to doctors and other service providers. The only one of
her children who was able to take her in was her youngest
daughter, Jane, who lived in Ohio.
To ensure that
Ellen was safe and well cared for, Jane moved her mother
to Ohio to live with her and her family. Jane had three
teenage children and she owned her own business. The
responsibility of taking care of her mother hit Jane with
a bang.
Every night Jane was up and down with her
mom at least 2 to 3 times. She transported her back and
forth to doctors, hair appointments, dentists, physical
therapists and many other activities. While Jane loved
spending the time with her mom, that increased commitment
took energy away from the family business as well as the
needs of her husband and children.
After
discussing the matter, Ellen agreed that Jane should be
compensated (although that is a term that did not sit well
with either one) for the time Jane spent caring for Ellen.
In the end, they were both happy with the decision. Ellen
was well cared for and living with loved ones and Jane was
happy that she could afford to spend the time with her
mother.
Both Ellen and Jane decided that the best
thing to do was to visit a lawyer to have a caregiver
agreement written to cover all the key points of the
agreement between Ellen and Jane so there would be no
misunderstandings, including problems with Jane’s
siblings.
Later, when Ellen had to enter a nursing
home, the caregiver agreement helped to protect Ellen’s
estate from potentially costly nursing home expenses.
A caregiver agreement can keep everyone on the same
page and reduce family stress. It can assure that the
family member caregiver will be paid for the substantial
time spent providing care. In addition, such agreements
may be able to help with Medicaid eligibility.
Next month we will look at some of the key points to be
covered in a care giver agreement.
If you have questions,
click
here to have our office call to set up a time to
discuss this with you.
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inbox. |
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