Caring for a friend. He is in a nursing facility since June 2017. I have been named as POA and I take care of: maintaining his home, paying his bills, cleaning residence, visiting him, attending meetings at Nursing facility, shop for him and do what he needs me to do. Had to clean out his home, had a yard sale, put his place on the market. Worked with realtor. I am all he has. He is in a different city, so I have been commuting back and forth. Every time I go it's about 73 miles and I have a toll to pay. Wear and tear on my vehicle as well.
The pension took two years to work out and I just got SS approval. The booklet provided with this SS approval clearly states: "With certain exceptions, a payee may not collect a fee for services provided to the beneficiary. You can't collect a fee for services from the beneficiary, unless Social Security allows it, or you're the legal guardian authorized by a court to charge a guardian fee." The additional requirement for both SS and the pension is that I must provide reports on how the funds are used - SS specifically says it must be used FIRST for housing and food, then there are other necessities listed that can be provided with those funds, but again it does NOT allow fees for the POA. If at any time SS decides to query you or your friend, any funds provided to you might come into question. Granted you have not gone the rep payee route...yet. You indicate you are putting his home up for sale - where does his mail go now? If it all goes to that home's mailbox, you will have to go the route I did.
Most online discussions state things like the POA document must specify an arrangement for fees, some indicate reasonable expenses (such as your gas and the tolls) and others state unless there is a specific entry in the document, there would be no fees for services (handling the checking, bill payments, etc.) or any expenses.
As others suggested, if your friend is of sound mind, the two of you could enter into an agreement, however it would be best to consult with a elder care attorney, and make this legal to protect yourself!
I hope you’ll be able to arrange for a stipend to cover your expenses as I know they add up quickly.
Bless you!
Mom's lawyer said to track all time spent - that's on phone + doing paperwork + cleaning + shopping etc - go back & do as much as you can & keep a log of it - then take an average multiply by minimum wage next take 0.1% of estate [so on $500,000. you end up with $500.] - which ever is higher that's what you charge per month - with my mom the figures were within $10 so I felt it was appropriate - I rounded down a few dollars just for ease of bookkeeping -
After expenses I don't clear much but I can do a nice lunch occationally which I really enjoy
With the long distance you have I'd add the price of a big mac meal each trip [assuming you don't stay overnight] which may or may not cover all your meal but it helps - if you stay over then your lodging & meals should be included however you should only take the price of an economy hotel & modest meals - if you wish to stay at a ritzy place then you should pick up difference
Of that money I get it covers my gas, car wear & tear, stationary, part of car insurance, parking etc plus a cleaning lady twice a month so that I can take the time to do all the work involved - when you put in an average of 15 hours a week it is like a part time job over & above what your normal life was before you took this on
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