Legal guardian rights- is it legal for the nursing home to discuss the financial arrangements with family members? A situation has come up regarding payment during a pending Medicaid case that I am handling. My family member has contacted the administrator who discussed information regarding a balance owing. My sister is now up in arms because she does not know the facts and is accusing me of spending my mom's money instead of paying the nursing home, which is not the case. Is it legal for this person to discuss these matters with my sibling, while the situation is in the resolution stage?
My sister found out the NH bill was in arrears because I told her. I told her because my mom will need her equity from dissolution of her shares in the cooperative community (sister lives there, too) where she lived. My mother signed a paper three years ago stating "upon my death my shares shall be sold and the net worth transferred ...) to said sister and a brother. Well, sibs still want the shares (about 7K or less), even though mom is not dead. Sister said that document doesn't mean anything because my mom now has dementia. At the time of signing, she was claiming my mom had Alzheimer's. Mom has vascular dementia and it was never determined what type of dementia she had. This is the mentality I am dealing with. An ongoing battle.
The reason there's an outstanding balance is because I paid mom's BC/BS and copays while Medicaid was pending. About six months. Filed in Nov '18, notified in March '19 -- retroactive to Nov. The nursing home demanded that I come up with $5k in a matter of three weeks. "What did you spend that money on?!!" they said. Told them that 1) her money was not misappropriated, and 2) that's between me and the State of Michigan.
So the NH threatened to report me to the Attorney General. (?) Go ahead, I said. They ended up reporting me to Adult Protective Services. APS went to interview my mom at the NH. Mom said -- Nope. Not answering any questions. They called me. I told them my story (including the co-op share issue). I have all and any receipts and have agreed to make payments to the NH arrears. The APS rep said -- good job! Haven't heard anything since -- about a week now.
Now it's a battle with the cooperative corporation, being uncooperative with dissolving mom's shares and returning what equity is left. I'll post about that in a different section because -- WOW! I really need help with that! No money for elder attorney. Cooperative shares is a gray area, I've been told by an elder attorney...
Offer to meet with your sister and discuss her concerns regarding your Mom's money and what legal steps you have to take in order to qualify your Mom for Medicaid and explain why there is an amount due at the nursing home. Sometimes relatives react emotionally when they feel that they are not being consulted or are not being keep up to date on certain details.