Caregiver compensations agreements help with caring for your loved ones
Caring for an aging relative is difficult — and often under appreciated — work. Many people who serve as caregivers often feel as if they have two jobs — their full-time day job at the office, and the part-to-full-time job of caregiver at home. As their parents age and decline, most of these caregivers end up not only giving up more and more of their time, but also, eventually, their opportunity for more income. Caregivers need to know that it doesn’t have to be this way; that if their elderly loved one (and perhaps the rest of the family) agree, the caregiver can be compensated according to mutually agreed upon terms of a Caregiver Agreement, also known as a Personal-Care Contract.
Elder law attorneys have known about Caregiver Agreements for a long time, but very few caregivers themselves are aware of this useful contract. A Caregiver (or Employment) Agreement serves to document a caregiver’s responsibilities and hours, and to set a rate of pay that’s in line with local practices and incomes. The contract would then be signed by both the caregiver and care recipient, and eventually shared with the rest of the family.
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