Can I be reimbursed for mileage?

I rather doubt it, but you can check with whoever monitors his money. Mileage to take a Veteran to medical appointments can be deducted and in some cases reimbursed, but I'm not so sure in this case. Any others on this thread who know the answer?
Carol

To ferris1 - The trip can be made for love, but love doesn't pay for gas. Some of us are on limited incomes, and things like this matter.
To crazy8 - Maybe it's time to think about selling the house, if you don't think your father will ever be able to move back home. An empty house doesn't "keep" well.

Ferris,
We aren't supposed to be judgmental here, just to give helpful answers. Elders make choices that impact their children. I would not expect my children to look after my home for nothing especially if I weren't living in it.
Now crazy 8 - We kept my mother's home for the past 5 years that she's been living with us. It has gone down a lot even though we pay a neighbor to look after the lawn and minor upkeep. The roof is now starting to go so that is a major expense. My mother's home is 3 hours away from us. renting it out is out of the question with this kind of drive, we are selling it. Think about that now rather than later when it could cost lots in fix up money.

Love does not pay the bills when your on a fixed income and it costs $30 in gas to take a parent where they need to go. Helping an elderly parent should not become a financial burden on adult children.

Keep track of the miles and hours, send it as an itemized bill to whomever is the POA. Any payment for your time will need to be reported as income to Fed and State. You can only deduct mileage for medical appointments, and then only if you parent is claimed on your tax return as your dependent.

Crazy8, don't leave the site because of one or two unkind comments. There are many people here who can provide ideas for dealing with aging parents. It sounds to me like you have done everything necessary to care for the house until you have a chance to list it for sale. My mil moved to assisted living several years ago, and was stalling on the house sale because she wanted to "go through everything" in the house despite the fact that she was too ill to spend more than an hour at a time there. After a year, the insurance company discovered that the house was vacant and said the policy would be cancelled in 30 days. Only then did she decide to sell, and we had to scramble to get it emptied, cleaned and repaired for listing.

As far as reimbursement, who would be reimbursing you? If your father has funds, there is no reason why he can't pay you mileage for your trips. If Medicaid will be likely in his future, you should carefully document each trip so that it will be treated as reimbursement, and not a gift. A service contract written up by a lawyer would be an added layer of proof. If you father is already receiving help from Medicaid or some other program, I don't believe that any of these programs will pay you mileage. I reimburse myself from my mother's funds for any purchases I make for her (I keep receipts) and also for mileage to run errands and take her to appointments. My father wanted whoever did the work to be paid for their out-of-pocket expenses and I have been assured by an attorney that this will not be a problem as long as there is good documentation. I am not paid for my time.

Aren't you supposed to be a loving daughter who would make those trips out of love? Asking for mileage seems really petty...

crazy8, could your Dad pay you as a *property manager* for his home? Glad to hear that the house has been winterized, you'd be surprised how many people forget to do that.

Make sure your Dad's home insurance has been notified that the house is vacant... the insurance company might tack on an extra fee because the house is more of risk being empty..... otherwise if something did happen to the house and the insurance company wasn't notified the insurance company might not pay for full damage.

Yeah and especially when they just don't want or mentally can't comprehend that you don't exist only for them! When I had no work, and no food, she still didn't get it. When I asked for gas money, she'd literally throw $5 at me as if it were a dagger.
I finally became more and more unavailable. She began turning to others: many times her needs are just excuses for people to entertain her. She's also a bottomless well in that respect. She never gets enough attention. I am so DONE!

I really dont know the answer to your question but I do know that you are eligible to get reimbursed for out of pocket expenses. I recommend keeping track of your mileage until you find out the legal answer. Current reimbursement for mileage is .56 per. Keep your gas receipts as well and talk to your father's financial caretaker to atleast get reimbursed for your fuel expenses. Mileage reimbursement is quite a bit more which is expected to cover repair expenses and so on. Ask yourself if you really need to check on his vacant home 3 x/wk or will 1 time be sufficient? Love does not pay the expenses... money does.