Family Caregiver or Personal Care Contracts: What Are They and Do You Need One?

Family members stepping in to care for aging loved ones often give up other parts of their lives in order to step into a caregiving role. Part-time family caregivers or those who coordinate care from a distance might give up hours spent at dinner with friends or watching children at extracurricular events. Full-time family caregivers can give up even more, including income and health insurance from a full-time job outside of their caregiving duties.

While most family caregivers offer their care for free as a service to someone they love, some older adults and their family members are searching for new ways to enter into a caregiver relationship that is healthier for everyone involved.

Personal Care Contracts, sometimes referred to as Family Caregiver Contracts, are becoming more and more popular as seniors look to find new ways to age and receive help. Do you need one? Learn more and decide.

What Is a Personal Care Contract?

A Personal Care Contract is a contract between a senior and a family caregiver. The contract can be legally binding and facilitated through a lawyer, or it can be more informal, depending on the purpose of the contract.

A Legal Approach

A legal and binding contract would be most applicable for a senior who is receiving care from a family member and who will be paying for that care out of their finances. So, if Evelyn is going to pay her 24-year-old granddaughter to care for her 8 hours per day, a legal and binding Personal Care Contract would be helpful. It would outline not only the pay that is agreed upon, but will also list out the duties required, any schedule for increases in pay, and any money that might go toward a health insurance plan.

This approach can be helpful not only in keeping family members on the same page about payments but also can be used if the senior will be paying the family member through a Medicaid or state-funded waiver.

A legal contract might also be a good idea if the senior and family member will be sharing a home. Include topics like grocery payments, home insurance expenses, and other bills in the contract as well as which party is responsible for those.

An Informal Approach

Informal care contracts can also be a wise way to ensure family members and seniors are on the same page regarding care preferences and expectations. For example, a care contract might include the senior saying they don’t want family members to assist them with intimate personal care tasks, like showering or incontinence management. This can help family members honor those preferences even if cognitive decline comes into the picture, choosing to find other ways for non-family professionals to step in and assist with those specific care tasks.

This informal approach is also an excellent way to open up a conversation about aging preferences and expectations. Allow your loved one to talk about how long they want to remain at home, and what incidents or conditions might change that preference. For example, your Mom might not want to “be a burden” to you and might say that she will want to move to an assisted living community when she can no longer effectively and safely perform activities of daily living independently.

What to Include

When you’re creating a care contract, be sure to include any of these if they suit your situation:

• Who will give care
• What care they will give, and what care they will not give
• How often care will be given or offered
• When the contract should be reviewed and/or revised
• Other family members who know about the contract
• Payment for services, if applicable

In general, a Personal Care Contract is an excellent way to plan for the future while prioritizing the relationships within the family. Family caregiving can take an emotional and physical toll on the caregiver, but it can also strain the connection between the senior and the caregiver. A contract, whether legal or informal, can reduce the risk of that strain happening.