Be very careful when you help to sign a parent or loved one into a nursing care facility. Make sure that only the person entering the nursing home is financially responsible for the cost of care. DO NOT sign anything making you responsible for paying for the care of a loved one. The case outlined below is a prime example of something that probably happens with quite some frequency. Read everything that is put in front of you and seek legal counsel when signing anything that is confusing or gives you cause for concern.
An Ohio appeals court rules that a nursing home resident’s son is personally liable to the facility for his mother’s expenses even though the admissions agreement did not impose personal liability on him because he signed a separate contract assuming financial responsibility. Andover Village Retirement Community v. Cole (Ohio Ct. App., Dist. 11, No. 2013-A-0057, Nov. 10, 2014).
Richard Cole admitted his mother to a nursing home. Mr. Cole, who had his mother’s power of attorney, signed the admission agreement as the “Responsible Person.” The agreement provided that Mr. Cole must pay the nursing home out of his mother’s resources and he was not personally liable. Mr. Cole also signed a financial responsibility contract that provided that he was voluntarily assuming financial responsibility for his mother.
After Mr. Cole’s mother died, the nursing home sued him to collect his mother’s unpaid expenses. Mr. Cole argued the admission agreement and financial responsibility contract were one contract that contains conflicting statements as to his responsibility. The trial court found Mr. Cole liable, and he appealed.
The Ohio Court of Appeals affirms, holding that Mr. Cole is liable to the nursing home for his mother’s expenses. According to the court, the admission agreement and the financial responsibility contract did not conflict because they were two separate contracts—one that imposed no personal liability and one that did.
For the full text of this decision, go to: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/11/2014/2014-ohio-4983.pdf
For assistance dealing with reviewing the nursing home admissions paperwork in Pennsylvania, please contact Douglas L. Kaune, esquire at 610 933 8069 or email him at dkaune@utbf.com. Doug’s entire practice is focused on elder law, estate planning, trust planning, estate admisitration and protection of clients’ assets from nursing home spending and estate and inheritance taxation. Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees, P.C. is a full service law firm which has three convenient office locations in Phoenixville, West Chester and Paoli, Pennsylvania. The firm primarily services clients in Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, Philadelphia, Bucks and Berks Counties, but can represent clients throughout Pennsylvania.
