Find Senior Care (City or Zip)
Join Now Log In
F
fairfax Asked October 2019

I have a friend who retired early to move in with mother as her caregiver for past 3 years. He has not taken any payment as caregiver. Advice?

Now that mother has declined and family are looking to place her in AL, 2 siblings have told caregiver that as soon as mom moves out, he also must vacate the house. I seem to remember seeing posts about the rights of a caregiver in longterm living situations. Also, if siblings continue harassment of caregiver and things get uglier, can he claim retro wages?

gladimhere Oct 2019
What is your interest Fairfax? Friend needs an elder law attorney to find out his options.

Geaton777 Oct 2019
Not sure what state this is occurring in, but if your mother's residence is where he lived, he may need to be evicted if he doesn't voluntarily move out. This is a legal process that requires filing forms and a fee. A notice needs to be posted on the residence for 30 days and after that if he doesn't leave I believe the police can forcibly remove him. Again, it can be a different process from state to state, but I don't think they can just "kick him out", especially if he has bills or other accepted documentation with that residence listed as his address.

ADVERTISEMENT


Ahmijoy Oct 2019
If no Caregiver Agreement was every drawn up and signed, your friend really doesn’t have much choice but to move out. He cannot claim “retro wages” for the same reason. This is why we always advise family caregivers to draw up a detailed agreement regarding what will be involved in caregiving and what monies will be paid to the caregiver. If he is not on the deed, and again, if nothing was put in writing and signed by him and his mother about him being able to stay in the home after she moved out, once again, he really has no rights. If one of his sibs has Durable POA, they are perfectly within their rights to tell him he has to vacate the property so, if they need to, they can sell it to pay for their Mom’s care. Probably the only way he could stay there is if he bought the house outright from his mother. He can consult an attorney, but the attorney will most likely tell him the same thing.

BarbBrooklyn Oct 2019
He should go see an elder care attorney. He should have done this before he started caregiving so that he could be paid, but that's water under the bridge, most likely.

See a lawyer immediately, especially if Medicaid is going to be involved.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ask a Question

Subscribe to
Our Newsletter