I do her laundry, take her to doctors and shop for her. My 90 year old mom can wash and dress herself. She handles taking her own medications. I am home with her all day and don't work. I do mom's laundry, shopping, take her to doctor appointments, stayed with her in hospital emergency room, visited her regularly in the hospital, I speak with her doctors and I am there for Home Nurse visits, I document and stay on top of her care, I pick up prescriptions, and make sure she is safe in my home as she walks with a cane, gets dizzy off and on, and currently has severe pain from gout. She says she doesn't want to feel like a burden. My husband feels she should contribute a regularly on a monthly basis to our household for living with us. She can afford to pay us as she is financially stable,has good investments and a large amount of savings. Also, she will soon be selling her house that is mortgage free. My husband feels that she should contribute financially to us on a monthly basis for living with us. So, what do you think is a fair amount for mom to pay us each month for living with us and the care we provide her?
A contract would be good if there are siblings who will want to know how the money was spent. Also, whoever is the POA can't be the one entering into the contract because that is not legal to take pay as the POA.
Do people in her people live a long time or is she unique in living this long? I ask this because there is always the chance that her health could suddenly turn for the worse and would require for her to have more care than two people can do 24/7.
I wish you well with all of this and hope someone can come up; with a figure of how much you should charge. One idea would be to ask a caregiver agency where you are what they charge for someone per hour. I think that would give you an idea.
You and she should consult an attorney specializing in Elder Law for the best way to set this up.
It is very appropriate to give our parents the dignity of paying their own way (or as much of their way as they can). Charging your parents has nothing to do with how much you love them. It is a practical and responsible thing to do.
Are there siblings involved, who might question how Mom is spending her money?
What you describe sounds fair to me. If she starts needing more care, you might want to increase it and/or expect her to pay for periodic respite care if she cannot be left alone. My only concern would be about documenting this arrangement, but that may not be necessary.