Even if you signed your parent’s New York nursing home admissions agreement,
you cannot be sued for their nursing home bill if you did not have access to their funds. Do not let the nursing home lawyers try to tell you otherwise by threatening “breach of contract” lawsuits. Nursing home lawyers have been sued for fabricating claims against children
You cannot be required to use your own personal funds to pay the nursing home bill. However, read about the circumstances where children are responsible for their parents’ nursing home bills.
In Amsterdam Nursing Home Corp. v. Lang the grandson signed the admission form as the resident’s “Legally Authorized Representative.” The court reviewed the statutes and determined that, “Amsterdam has presented no evidence that Lang has any legal control over or access to his grandmother’s financial resources. Therefore, based upon the record before this Court, Amsterdam has failed to establish that Lang is liable to pay for the services rendered to his grandmother.” Neither the statutes, nor the Admissions Agreement require a Designated Representative to make payment to plaintiff with the latter’s own funds. The court in Hillside Manor Rehabilitation & Extended Care Ctr., LLC v. Barnes, the court stated: “[I]n the relatively thin body of case law in New York State regarding third-party liability for nursing home bills, the Court, in considering the federal and state regulations has held that third parties are not responsible for paying such bills. [D]espite the defendant’s signature on an admission agreement and designation as attorney-in-fact the Court found no third-party liability.”Furthermore, proof of access to the resident’s funds is a pre-requisite to finding the signer of an admission agreement liable for the resident’s nursing home bill.
To avoid personal responsibility for your parent’s nursing home bills, contact Robert Friedman, Attorney at 716.542.5444 or 585.343.0746 before signing the nursing home admissions agreement.