By Elder attorney Rick Law of the Estate Planning Center at Law Elder Law, a multi-generation law firm serving seniors and their families in the West suburbs of Chicago, IL. Drafting an interfamilial care agreement is not a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter task. Similar to creating an estate plan, simply pulling out a standard, generic employment agreement and changing the names will not do in this situation. After meeting with the client and family, the next step in the process involves obtaining a personal-care plan. A personal care plan can be initiated by a telephone conference involving the client, the family, and the affected loved one’s personal physician. A personal-care plan is the foundation upon which the personal-care agreement is built. In addition, it provides written evidence of the health condition that necessitates and justifies in-home personal care. This is vitally important when defending payments being made between family members. For people with Alzheimer’s, the care plan recommendation will state that the caregiver is needed for health care, hygiene, welfare monitoring, nutritional management, and assistance with various activities of daily life. The recommendation will typically end with the statement that “without this care, the patient would require care in a nursing facility.” Most family members are not licensed health-care professionals. A licensed health-care professional, such as a medical doctor, physician’s assistant, or other qualified individual, needs to be in charge of the case management and serve in an oversight capacity. An alternative method of creating a care plan is to hire a licensed geriatric care manager to go to the person’s house and do an assessment of the person’s needs. The geriatric care manager is trained to do a survey of the physical environment within the home and an inventory of all resources available to the individual. After completing the assessment of the individual, the environment, and the resources, a personalized care plan is created. With the assessment in hand, the lawyer will be able to draft a customized personal-care agreement. The agreement is tailored around what the care manager has identified as necessary care and other circumstances. If your loved one has memory problems and you’re afraid of the consequences that may bring, give our office a call today at 800-310-3100.  Your first consultation is absolutely free.  We’ll let you know what steps you need to take, right now, to protect yourself and your family.  Call now. Sincerely, Rick L. Law, Attorney, Estate Planner for Retirees. Rick has been named the #1 Illinois elder law estate planning attorney for the past 8 years in a row by Leading Lawyer Magazine. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, AARP Magazine, TheStreet.com, and numerous newspapers and articles. Rick is the lead attorney for Law Elder Law, LLP, focusing in Estate Planning, Guardianship, and Nursing Home Solutions. His goal is to give retirees an informed edge when it comes to dealing with an uncertain future.  Get flexible retirement strategies that work during good times and bad, plus information on how you can save your home and assets from being used to pay for long term care.  Call 800-310-3100 for your free consultation now!