Legal Question in Elder Law in Washington

Owe back money for assisted living

My mom with dementia has been private pay for adult family home. She has now run out of funds and we are waiting for medicaid paperwork to get thru - there was some delay. We owe 1-1/2 months. I had informed the caretakers I was trying to get funds, but we cannot do any financing at this point- we are strapped. I am moving my mom in with us until medicaid is thru. We approached the caretakers with a financial plan to pay them back with interest, but it would take a couple of years - unless we came into overtime, incometax return, etc which we would pay to them. They pretty much laughed at it. They did not want us to remove my mom until we have this financially agreed upon pay them. We are moving her out this weekend. If we cannot pay them back in the next couple of months as they want, what will happen? Again, we gave them a letter of intent to pay - I know it is due to them, but we have medical bills, etc of our own and don't have the funds. What are our options or theirs? They stated they would be suing us -


Asked on 4/15/07, 10:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: Owe back money for assisted living

It is time to get yourselves to an attorney that can help you with SSI/Medicaid/medicare planning.

If your mother is completely out of funds do you have a guardianship set up for her? Do you have a DPOA from before she became incapacitated? Have you been paying for her care out of pocket? Your pocket? Who signed the contract with the facility?

This is planning that should have been in place to pay for her needs before you get into your assets to pay for her.

Please don't hesitate to call for a referral. You are approaching this from the standpoint of you being responsible for paying for her care - which to a certain extent you are not responsible for - and agreements that you have entered into on her behalf and I am not sure you have the authority to do that.

Also, elders with dementia are not collateral for contract payments. Her safety comes first. There is a long-term care ombudsman with DSHS and you might want to give that office a call Monday.

The care provider can make whatever threats they want, but people who are actually filing suits do that, they don't threaten.

Something is wrong here. Hope this helps - Elizabeth Powell

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Answered on 4/15/07, 10:39 pm


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