Caregiver Agreement – 5 Benefits for Families

Long-term caregiving has significant financial consequences for caregiver agreement, particularly for women.  Caregivers face the loss of their own income, loss of employer-based benefits, shrinking of savings to pay for caregiving costs and a threat to their retirement income due to fewer contributions to retirement vehicles.

One way to compensate an adult child willing to devote so much of his or her time to caring for an ailing or aging family member is through a caregiver agreement.  The agreement is essentially an employment contract between the caregiver and the recipient of care.  The family member and the caregiver stipulate to a caregiver’s tasks, the hours spent caregiving, and financial compensation.  Often it is hard to accept that a caregiver may want or need to be compensated for services rendered because love doesn’t pay the mortgage or for groceries, but having a binding legal contract in effect can protect both parties down the road.

Here are five important ways a caregiver agreement can help your family.

It offers a great way to support the person for their time and effort in caring.  This may be a caregiver’s sole source of income or a second job.  How much to pay a caregiver is up to the family.  A good place to start is to look at how much a home health agency would charge.  Current rates in Chester County PA are $18-25 per hour.  These rates often come with minimum requirements and vary based on needs and time etc.  After research and discussion, set a salary and establish a schedule for payment.

A detailed caregiver agreement sets boundaries.  It makes clear the extent of the services being provided and the amount of money the caregiver is getting paid.

Having a caregiver agreement in place helps minimize the conflict between family members over the handling of care.  The existence of a contract helps elevate the validity of the arrangement and value the services provided by the caregiver.

With regard to Medicaid eligibility, payments made to a caregiver under contract can reduce the care recipient’s countable assets, which in turn may accelerate Medicaid eligibility.  Absent an agreement in writing, the money a recipient pays a caregiver may be deemed a gift by Medicaid.  This triggering event may cause a period of delay where recipient may not qualify due to the current 5 year Medicaid look-back period.  At the time of Medicaid application, Medicaid will total all payments made to caregiver for the past 60 months and divide that by the average monthly cost of a semi-private room at a nursing home in the state. This quotient is the penalty period which equals the number of months Medicaid will not pay for nursing home care. The monetary and emotional cost to the family for the delay in Medicaid far outweighs the time and cost to properly execute a caregiver agreement.

Many recipients find comfort in having care from a devoted family member over a stranger and the money the family pays for care stays in the family.

Caregiving is a journey.  The journey changes daily, weekly monthly and yearly.

The caregiver agreement sets the stage for the journey and makes the pathway to caregiving a two-way street.  It fosters open communication among caregiver, recipient and family members.  It begins a relationship with an elder law attorney and may also be an opportunity to review, update or prepare legal documents including Authorization to Release Health Care Information, Health Care Power of Attorney, Living Will, General Durable Power of Attorney, Will and Trust(s). It paves the way for Medicaid planning, if necessary.  The elder law attorney initiates the formation of a support team for the caregiver which includes professionals such as a financial advisor, banker, CPA, trust officer, insurance agent and local resources such as department of aging, religious organizations, hospitals and support groups.

With the understanding of the caregiver role, organization of legal documents and establishment of a support team, the caregiver relationship is on track for success. Having a detailed, written caregiver agreement allows a caregiver to be Compassionate; Alert to current needs; Resourceful and Energetic in their care for a loved one.