The Assisted Living Community we are interested in requires a guarantor. Anyone have experience with this?

They mean "who guarantees payment" so do NOT sign anything unless you are a POA or Guardian and ALWAYS write POA or Guardian after your name or else they will bill YOU.

While I would love to say it's to make sure they get the 'rent' I have to say 'Elder attorney' or someone well versed in Medicare/AID before you 'don't sign' anything, allowing the person who is going to reside in that apartment sign everything. It happened to me. I was going to sign, but I was told NOT TO SIGN ANYTHING if my mother could sign. She signed. If you co sign you may be liable for all that goes on including medical bills not covered by insurance.

Has all that snow melted yet?

After my dad passed away in a NH about a month later my mom could not live at home alone in Mass. They did not own a home. They lived on SS and two small pensions but were able to meet their monthly expenses. My mom received my dad's SS because it was higher and had only her retirement to live on his ended at his death. I live in Ca. and had to find a place for her to live with some limited care necessary due to early onset dementia. The ALF in her city knew she did not have enough money to live there so I signed the lease to pay the difference. She was waiting for VA Benefits to come but that would not come near covering her monthly expenses and a one year lease.. I had no other options until I could convince her to move to Ca. which she did a year later. The same situation is going on here but it is month to month. I am her only child and am able to make up the difference for awhile but if not she will need to move to a Residential Care Home who usually do worth with Medicaid and not just private pay. Every situation is different and I am careful what and how I sign things for my mom using my POA.I do not assume responsibility if she is in the hospital for whatever her insurance does not pay or any services that accepts medicare. My mom did not have any savings and also not enough to cover even the first months rent at the ALF in both cities. If it is not paid she will be asked to leave similar to paying rent for an apartment. If I broke the lease in Mass. I would have had to pay a penalty and rent until they could get a new resident for her apartment. I personally can never say never because things change but am very careful and read everything ask lots of questions before I sign without my POA which is rare. If the POA is used correctly I am agreeing to only things that she has the money for and assume no personal liability.

Boy, what a good friend. I give u a lot of credit. Just dealing with my Mom and her house and finances overwhelm me.

When researching assisted living places for a married couple/friends of mine for whom I have POA, I made sure I was also on their checking and savings account so I could write the checks if necessary from their accounts to pay for the assisted living. When I became their POA, that was one of the first things I did. They don't want to leave their condo and need more help than I can provide. I arranged for "Visiting Angels" to start helping them when I am out of town or out of state and I think I can convince them to keep using them even when I am back in the area. They can manage them in ways I cannot and provide a safety net for their continuing decline. I can monitor their checking and savings on-line to see what the husband writes checks for. I have the Visiting Angels send their bills to me and I bring them to the husband to write the checks so he is still "in the loop," even though he doesn't always remember what the bills are for. I am very careful that none of their money comes to me unless I have a receipt for reimbursement of something I paid for on their behalf to keep in their records should anyone need to see why I was paid that money. I am providing this help out of friendship, not financial gain.

I googled "guarantor assisted lving contracts Massachusetts". A long list of results came back. One from AVVO where you can ask attorneys questions without a fee. There was a response from an attorney in Massachusetts. Does the contract also specify that the guarantor is to pay the fees from the residents funds? I imagine that sort of statement is necessary in cases where the AL resident is not able to pay the fees due because of incapacity or dementia and they just plain forget. Then the facility would need for someone else to pay the fees or the resident may become evicted. There are many temporary and permanent situations that could arise creating the need for someone else to write the check using the resident's funds. It is extremely important to have the POA's in place, if they were not, and there is incapacity, then what? If you are going through the admit process it is probably wise to consult with an attorney prior to signing the contract. It could be the same one that is assisting with the POA's. Make sure the attorney is well versed in elder law.

Thank you LaylaOk, that is what I am thinking as well.

I am not a lawyer, marysmith33, but I THINK a guarantor is one who agrees to be responsible for a debt if someone fails to make payments. Much like a co-signer for a loan, if payments are not made to the assisted living community by the person living in the facility, the guarantor is responsible for making the payments.

Personally, I would never agree to being a guarantor or a co-signer for anyone be they family or friend. I highly suggest you consult a lawyer about this situation. Don't sign anything until you have ALL the information about the community you are considering.