Legal Question in Elder Law in Illinois

You are entitled to be paid a reasonable amount - $15 - 20 per hour for your time. Remember you have to declare that income on your income tax return. You are also entitled to be reimbursed for any expenses you paid for her.

Be sure to only charge for items that you would likely have to pay someone to do if you did not do them yourself (e.g., routine maintenance on the house, paying bills, reviewing medical records). Never charge for items that are personal in nature (e.g., visiting with your mother, running small errands for her, speaking to doctors and staff while you visit with her). Keep very detailed records as you incur the time. Each individual record should show the date, amount of time spent and activity performed. No individual record should exceed one day. Also, be prepared to ultimately battle with beneficiaries of your mother's Trust if they do not ultimately agree that the time spent on these activities is reasonable. Consider billing the time that you spent cleaning out the house at about 1/3 or 1/4 of your normal rate, because you are likely reminiscing as you go, and a third party contractor would simply throw things in the trash much more quickly. Be sure to apply this logic to other tasks, as appropriate.