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She lives with me in house that I own. I provide all her care, no outside help and I work full time at a hospital. She is 92yo. Between pension & SS she gets about $2400/month. She pays for her cellphone and internet.

I think if you are her POA and have a care contract drawn by an attorney that is the safest and best way to protect her and to protect yourself. If you do "shared living costs" rather than rental, then what you are charging is miniscule compared to what costs at ALF or nursing home would be. The thing you need to prevent is having it look like gifting if you have need within the next five years (2 1/2 in california) to have her apply for medicaid help. You need a paper trail to prove this is a cost of living sharing, and files to keep records.

Your amount is reasonable, but this isn't something you can afford to do wrong, so see an attorney. I understand this is another grand out of pocket, but it's wise to do.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Do you have a caregiver contract with her? A document stating your role and what she’s paying you to do?
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Reply to Daughterof1930
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Samatha Aug 20, 2024
No. No contract. I actually never heard of a caregivers contract. She and I took care of her mother together in my house (Grandmother died in home without going to SNF). That is my goal with my mother; for her to die at home. But I'm worried that mother will end up in SNF. Women in my family live VERY long time (late 90s and a few into 100s).
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Is this 1500 a month to pay for her bills for things she needs or uses, or is it for your time? (ie: Call it rent, food, gas etc)

If it is just for her living expenses, you dont need a contract for that though I would document the things it is paying for.

$1500 a month would not be unreasonable if it were you just charging rent and food.

If it were for your time in caring for her, a contract would be needed, but $1500 a month is not unreasonable for just say room and board and her other needs.

Small thing, but cant you both use same internet?
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Samatha Aug 20, 2024
Sorry we do use the same internet. She pays for it. The $1500 is mainly being saved for new sliding for the house. I pay for all the other (utilities, insurances, property taxes, etc). She does pay for groceries about 50% of the time. I do not declare her on my taxes. I guess we are pooling our money as a household.
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Thank you for your responses. What you all say makes sense. She's not consistent with the $1500/month and I only recently started to ask her for the $1500/month. A co-worker suggested that I treat it as a gift (tax-free gift of $18000 per year). Last year she "paid" about $14000 total. I think I will get the rent agreement written just in case she needs a SNF. Thank you so much.
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Karsten Aug 21, 2024
the problem is if you call it a gift, and your mom needs medicaid for care within five years, they can claw the money back
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