When you are considering taking certain steps as a senior citizen or as a representative of a senior citizen you may want to discuss the details with a good elder law attorney. If you act alone you may have regrets later on.
Any time you are entering into a contractual agreement as a layperson you would do well to engage the services of an experienced attorney unless you are absolutely certain that you understand every sentence in the agreement.
Given the nature of legally binding agreements there are not too many laypeople who can say that they are absolutely confident that they thoroughly understand the implications of each and every clause.
With the above in mind there was a case heard in the state of Connecticut recently involving a woman who signed a contract with a nursing home as she was having her mother admitted.
The agreement called for the daughter, Judy Andrien, to take particular actions to arrange for her mother’s Medicaid eligibility or see to it that the nursing home costs were paid by utilizing her mother’s personal resources if necessary.
The bills were not paid, and the nursing home contended that Ms. Andrien did not fulfill her contractual obligations. For her part Andrien argued that the nursing home was in violation of a law preventing such facilities from requiring third parties to guarantee payment before admitting the patient.
The court found against Andrien, stating that the agreement was entered into voluntarily and that it was not a conditional requirement.
If you are interested you can read all the details for yourself by clicking this link: Elder Law Court Ruling
As you can see, it is a good idea to discuss things with an experienced elder law attorney before signing any contracts that could have significant financial ramifications.
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