When assisting a friend in entering a nursing home, what should I do to make sure I don't become responsible for their bills?
by: Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota-Duluth
A legal question and answer line for Seniors. DEAR SENIOR LEGAL LINE:
A dear and very close friend seems to approaching the point of time that residency in a nursing home would be appropriate. I want to assist my friend in anyway that I can. However, I have heard stories of people being presented with numerous papers as part of a nursing home intake process. Sometimes the friends or spouses assisting the person in that intake process inadvertently cause themselves to be personally liable for nursing home bills by signing certain documents. What can I do to make sure that I don't become personally liable for my dear friend's nursing home bills?
Signed, Roger
DEAR ROGER:
It is great that you are supportive of your friend's needs and have been there for your friend on a continual basis. If the time comes that your friend needs to seek long term care services from a nursing home or other residential service providers, you and your friend might be asked to consider and sign many different documents.
If you and your friend have talked about a specific nursing home, assisted living, or other long term care facility, the admission agreement must be made available to potential applicants prior to application. That means that you should be able to go to that facility and request a copy of their admission agreement. That would allow you and your friend to become familiar with that agreement. Each agreement is different. Often, those agreements contain five or more signature blocks. One is for the resident or applicant, another is for the resident's spouse, a third is for the resident's legal representative, a fourth is for the "responsible party," and the fifth is for the "guarantor." The applicant should only sign after reviewing the agreement and understanding the agreement. Unfortunately, many times the applicant is in a condition that they are unable to understand such contract language. If the applicant does not have the capacity or understanding to sign a contract the nursing home may request, but not demand, the signature of another person on behalf of the applicant. They cannot condition the acceptance of the applicant on that third-party signature.
In Minnesota, spouses of long term care facility applicants are responsible also for the spouse's medical bills by virtue of their marital status. However, that does not necessarily mean that the spouse should sign the application. While a spouse cannot avoid sharing responsibility for medical costs, including nursing home costs, the spouse should not feel compelled to sign the nursing home agreement. Divorces sometimes take place while a spouse is in a nursing home and a properly handled divorce can sever that spousal responsibility for ongoing medical bills. However, if the spouse signs a nursing home admission agreement or application, they may incur personal liability beyond their spousal liability. That personal liability would not be severed upon the dissolution of the marriage.
Many times an attorney-in-fact representing the applicant via a Power of Attorney is asked to sign an application to a nursing home because the applicant is unable to sign. Again, there is no reason the attorney-in-fact has to sign such application or admission papers. Just because a Power of Attorney has been created does not mean that the attorney-in-fact has to act as the attorney-in-fact. A Power of Attorney certainly doesn't compel an attorney-in-fact to sign an application for admission to a nursing home. If an attorney-in-fact acts, they must act according to the principal's wishes and/or in the principal's best interests. Before signing a nursing home agreement, it may be advisable to seek legal advice on this issue.
In short, the applicant for admission should sign the admission agreement but there is no reason that anybody else has to sign any part of the paperwork. No signature means no liability stemming from the admission papers. A spouse is liable anyway, because of their marriage. An attorney-in-fact may have some liability to the principal if they act in bad faith or against the interest of the principal and that act results in injury to the principal. Those are issues separate from the admission paperwork. Again, no signature means no liability stemming from the admission papers for people other than the applicant.
Another benefit of seeking a copy of the nursing home agreement prior to immediate admission is to look for wording that may not be desirable and negotiate for changes in the agreement. Sometimes undesirable wording may appear as "mandatory arbitration" clauses or paragraphs. Striking or erasing such clauses or paragraph(s) may be advisable and does not hinder any party from agreeing to arbitration at a later time. Mandatory arbitration waives your constitutional due process rights and access to our State and Federal Court systems. These may be rights that you want to keep.
Most of what I have talked about in this article can be found in Minnesota Statutes 144.6501. If you have further questions, I invite you to talk with an attorney about this situation. Your desire to assist your friend is a good thing but you should understand the consequences of signatures. A little bit of time spent reviewing the admission contract before the actual admission date and seeking legal counsel could save you headaches and liability. Again, the only person that needs to sign long term care nursing home documents is the recipient of the services. I encourage you to contact an Elder Law Attorney for more information.
This column is written by the Senior Citizens' Law Project. It is not meant to give complete answers to individual questions. If you are 60 years of age or older and live within the Minnesota Arrowhead Region, you may contact us with questions for legal help by writing to: Senior Citizens' Law Project, Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota, 302 Ordean Bldg., Duluth, MN 55802. Please include a phone number and return address. To view previous articles, go to: www.lasnem.org. Reprints by permission only.
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