A woman in Connecticut recently found out the hard way why you it is important to honor a signed nursing home agreement. When the woman admitted her mother to a nursing home, she signed an agreement as a “responsible relative” on her mother’s behalf. Under the agreement, she promised that she would ensure the nursing home would be paid either from Medicaid or her mother’s assets.
When that did not happen, the nursing home sued the woman, claiming breach of the agreement. The woman requested the case be dismissed, claiming she never promised to pay the facility with her own funds. The court ruled in the nursing home’s favor, finding the woman in breach of contract for failing to use her mother’s funds to pay the facility or obtain Medicaid coverage for her mother.
Before You Sign on the Dotted Line
Nursing home facilities cannot require you to make a financial guarantee as a condition of admittance. However, if you do sign a nursing home agreement, you are bound by its terms. If presented with an agreement, the best thing to do is to hold off on signing it until you have reviewed it with a qualified elder law attorney. If you decide not to consult with an attorney, make sure when you sign the agreement that you sign it as a representative of the patient and not as yourself. Cross out any verbiage in the agreement that suggests that you will pay nursing home expenses if the patient is unable to pay.
