When you admit a loved one to a nursing home you
will be faced with a mountain of paperwork. As you sit across the
desk from the person in charge of admitting your elder you will
certainly feel pressured to sign all these documents as quickly as
possible. Resist!
The Admissions Director will want to give you a quick one sentence
summary of the document you are being asked to sign. If you simply
accept what he or she says and sign without reading and
understanding the document, you may be placing yourself in a very
bad financial position.
If you go to the nursing home to complete all the admission
documents before your loved one has moved in, you won't have much
leverage. On the other hand, your position will be strongest if
your loved one is already occupying a bed in the facility when you
sit down to sign the admission agreement.
If you can possibly arrange it, do not make yourself available to
sign admission documents before your elder moves into the nursing
home. Plan to have your elder move into the facility on the same
day you will sign all the admission documents. See him settled
into his bed, and then take your leave to visit with the
Admissions Director.
It is illegal for a nursing home to evict a patient for anything
other than inability to meet the patient's needs, the patient's
health has improved, the resident is endangering other residents,
the nursing home is ceasing operations, or the resident has not
paid. If your elder is already in one of their beds, even though
the admission agreement has not been completed, it will be
extremely difficult for the nursing home to evict your loved one.
Are You Really The Responsible Party?
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You're admitting a member of your family, or
someone you care about to a nursing home. Of course you want to be
responsible. You want the nursing home to understand that you
should be notified about anything important, and that you will be
responsible for overseeing your loved one's care.
But this isn't what these legal documents mean by "responsible
party." What they mean is that you, as responsible party, agree to
personally guarantee payment to the nursing home. Unless you agree
that you want to pay the nursing home bills yourself, out of your
own funds, do not agree to sign any document as "responsible
party." Nor do you want to be the "guarantor" or the "financial
agent."
The best thing to do is to have your elder sign the agreement
herself. If she is unable to do this, you can sign as as your
parent's agent if you have an appropriate power of attorney. Call
your attorney and ask for specific instructions about how you
should sign these documents so you are not accepting personal
financial responsibility.
If you don't have power of attorney, and your elder is unable to
sign documents because of illness or disability, you will still be
able to help admit him or her for nursing home care. In this case,
even if you have to personally pay for legal advice, please
consult with an attorney before signing any legal documents that
could obligate you for large amounts of money, such as for nursing
home care. What it may cost you for this advice is a tiny fraction
of what your financial liability could be if you make a mistake
when you sign an admission agreement.
If you need to find an attorney to give you
advice or to review legal documents, here is a
Texas Elder Law Attorney Locator. |
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