Adult Illness, Alzheimer's and Dementia, Elder Law, Long Term Care

Bookkeeping by the Caregiver

By Elder Law Attorney Rick L. Law. Rick is the founder of the multi-generation estate planning and elder law  office of Law Elder Law, serving Kane, Kendall, and DuPage counties in Illinois. The caregiver’s bookkeeping service is an invaluable tool that can help ensure that the caregiver is able to accurately record time and expenses. It is a good idea to have the caregiver come in after a month to review the logs.  This will also help to ensure that that the caregiver is keeping proper records. If the personal care agreement is later challenged in court, the caregiver’s logs will need to be reasonably precise, accurate, and timely.  Better safe than sorry, right?  At least in this instance, there is someone there to do the work for you, and provide another set of checks and balances so you can rest knowing that your loved one is getting the best possible care. At some point after a personal-care contract has been created, people receiving care will continue to decline as they move through the Alzheimer’s care journey. Unfortunately, the majority of those individuals will exhaust their personal resources and be compelled to apply for nursing home Medicaid benefits. The Medicaid application process will include the state agency questioning the payments that were made to the caregiver. If the personal-care agreement is not drafted correctly, or proper records were not kept, clients could end up with costly penalty periods of ineligibility for Medicaid benefits during which they need to pay for care. Without appropriate evidence, which usually is provided by contemporaneous logs of daily caregiving services, a caregiver could be accused of being an elder abuser. Too many families needlessly lose everything they have.  Don’t let that be you.  If you need help paying the overwhelming cost of long term care, give our office a call 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, because when you’re out of money, you’re out of options! Sincerely, Rick L. Law, Attorney, Estate Planner for Retirees Rick has been named the #1 Illinois elder law estate planning attorney for 2008-2016 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!