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.
Sale of his belongings: 15% of his profits would be a reasonable amount.
Sale of his home, where you kind of acted like a 2nd realtor, representing his interests: 2-3% of the sale price of the home would be reasonable.
Cleaning/preppping his house for sale. This service, which includes a deep cleaning (dusting, sanitizing, windows, baseboards, window linens, carpet cleaning), and arranging furniture to show the house in the best possible light, goes for $400-$700, depending on the size of the house.
Visiting your friend at nursing home: obviously you do that because you want to and it's free; you cover your own gas and tolls.
Attending meetings and being his advocate: there's a name for this service and it costs either $50 or $250 a month (I can't remember which, but you can price it with a senior care service.) Their cost will be based on the advocate being a licensed social worker who has experience with elder care/nursing home situations, knows the law and patients rights, and is able affect change when necessary. However, the nursing home knowing someone is watching is invaluable. Attending nursing home meetings, whether they are family meetings or care plan meetings, and being vocal in a way that shows everyone you're aware of what's going on is worth about $20 per meeting in my estimation (which is based on over 3 years of intense nursing home experience).
Shopping/errands: it would be reasonable for him to cover you gas and tolls and give you $50 for the day provided his errands take the better part of a day.
That's my answer to the question you asked. Now, here's my answer to the question you didn't ask.
It sounds like caring for your friend my be a little more demanding than you're able to handle right now. You may want to call one of these advocacy services and have them take on part of the load. Or, you could help him find local resources to do his shopping/errands, or you can help him do them online. Based only on the fact that he sold his house, I'm assuming that he'll be a long term resident in the facility. It would be worth it for him to discover some local resources and support for times that you are on vacation or doing something else. Good luck, and you do sound like a loyal person and a great friend. We should all have people in our lives who are as honorable as you are.
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
I hope you’ll be able to arrange for a stipend to cover your expenses as I know they add up quickly.
Bless you!
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!