Legal Question in Elder Law in Massachusetts

elderly parent care

i am trying to keep my 91 year old father home as long as i can. he has vs dimentia & alztimers as well as medical issues. my question is i am using what money he has left in the bank to pay for his home care. i have to spend down his money before i can apply for mass health. i am paying $900 a week for day care at home for him ($18 an hour for 10 hours a day) and i need to have someone take care of him at night now. i can get someone for $12 an hour but it has to be done under the table. he only has about $13,000.00 left and that's not going to go too far. can i do this without causing any trouble for myself or anyone else? i don't want to put him into a nursing home.


Asked on 9/22/08, 7:32 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: elderly parent care

You have two potential problems here. One is for failure to pay employment taxes by making payments under the table. Second is proof to Mas Health that you spent the $13,000 on your father.

The second is the biggest issue. First, you can spend money for certain things and hold on to funds, up to $2,000.00, for your father's personal needs. If you have not paid for your father's funeral, you can do that in advance without violating the rules.

I would also begin the process of application for Mass Health coverage soon, as you do not want to get behind.

If you can document some how what the $13,000 was used for, you can avoid a problem. If you give the care giver a check directly as opposed to paying through a service, that should be OK.

Good Luck

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Answered on 9/22/08, 10:09 am


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