You can do a "personal services contract", done by an elder care attorney, in which dad pays you for caregiving from his assets &/or income. The amount can depend on what his financial situation is, your community standards on caregiving and what your abilities and education are (so if you are a CPA you should get more than what someone with a GED would). Dad does a 1099 on you and you pay taxes and build SS retirement work points on this. Doing a legitimate contract is very important because if in the future Dad needs an increased level of care and needs to go into a NH and apply for Medicaid, the $ he pays you can be viewed as a gift and therefore a transfer penalty will be done in which there will be a period of time in which Medicaid will not pay for NH/LTC and you will have to private pay. This is not a do-it-yourself project, you need good legal advise.
If he was a vet, the VA has an aid & attendance program for paying caregivers.
There are two great articles written by AgingCare.com editor’s that were already posted in our community. We thought this might answer your caregiving question.
If he was a vet, the VA has an aid & attendance program for paying caregivers.
LINK:
“10 Government Programs You Can Access for Your Elderly Parents.”
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/10-Government-Programs-Caregivers-Can-Access-for-Their-Elderly-Parents-120513.htm
and
“How Can I Get Paid for taking Care of My Elderly Parents?”
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/how-to-get-paid-for-being-a-caregiver-135476.htm
We hope this helps. Please let us know if you need anything else and we look forward to seeing more questions and discussions from you.
Karie H.
AgingCare.com Team