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heidemary Asked May 2018

On the Personal Care Agreement, can I sign as both the POA for my mom and her caregiver?

Mom lives in a nice assisted living facility, but it is using up all her monthly income and then some. I'd like to bring her into my home, but will need to be reimbursed since I would give up the opportunity to work outside the home and need income. I am her POA and the only child living close by and willing to care for her. I would like to use the Personal Care Agreement on this site for the contract. I live in Montana.

bicycler Jun 2018
heidemary, if your mom is actually still competent to sign the personal care agreement (PCA), then she should sign it. But if she is not competent, then having her sign it would make it invalid contract or worse, look like elder abuse. Assuming she is not competent, then your signatures both as POA and as caregiver might have the appearance of a possible conflict of interest, but I think if you are conservative and careful, it would be okay to do that. By conservative, I mean charging significantly less than what the assisted care facility is charging while providing as good or better care. By careful, I mean getting your mom's doctor to state in writing the extent of care you mom needs, getting your state's Medicaid office to review your PCA, and giving a copy of the PCA to each of your siblings before implementing it.

But, conflict of interest aside, carefully consider how long you (and your family?) will physically and mentally be able to provide the care your mom currently needs and will need as her Alzheimer's dementia progresses. Because my wife and I had been helping provide my dad's care for four years (one week every couple of months) before we moved him into our home, we knew what the job would entail, but after 3.5 years in our home, I had to move him into a memory care facility due to increased sleep deprivation and fatigue. If your mom is at the stage where she requires 24/7 monitoring, then the 8,760 hours of caregiving in a year equates to 4.5 full-time jobs.

JoAnn29 Jun 2018
I agree, Mom would need to be able to sign. If there is not enough money for the AL you may need to consider a NH with Medicaid.

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Guestshopadmin May 2018
No, that could be seen as a conflict of interest and could be seen as a preferential transfer. If she is still competent, mom should sign.

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