Being Paid to Care for Your Parents
January 28, 2009
As their parents have needed increased hands-on care and errand-running, many “Boomers” have been squeezed trying to juggle caring for their parents and performing well at work. Our current economy has produced a mixed blessing for some – lost jobs means time to address their parents’ needs, but without economic security.
One solution is a “caregiver contract.” This is a written agreement between the parents and the adult children, laying out tasks the child will perform and a rate of pay. Set up along with worker’s compensation and the usual payroll deductions, this provides an income stream to the caregiver while giving the parent what most elders want – being cared for by her own family. Only an elder law attorney familiar with the ever-changing rules of Medicaid should draft a caregiver contract, so that it will protect the elder in the event she needs nursing home care in the future. If not done correctly, a caregiving arrangement can result in a later denial of MassHealth nursing home benefits.
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[...] One solution is for the parent to hire the child. I discuss some of the nuts and bolts of how to draft a caregiver contract in another post. I also previously discussed the advantages of caregiver contract in a down economy. [...]
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