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Who are you caring for?
Which best describes their mobility?
How well are they maintaining their hygiene?
How are they managing their medications?
Does their living environment pose any safety concerns?
Fall risks, spoiled food, or other threats to wellbeing
Are they experiencing any memory loss?
Which best describes your loved one's social life?
Acknowledgment of Disclosures and Authorization
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
Remember, this assessment is not a substitute for professional advice.
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All costs? Mum has no SS or pension or interest income? She did not sell a house? There are so many details that you really need to sit down with a good tax consultant and bring all the financial records with you.
Carafinale, is your mother in assisted living? That was what the original question asked. It is maybe easy to claim mom as your dependent, but even on your taxes, you can only claim her Medical costs as a deduction, not her Personal costs. See the IRS pub I mentioned already.
I claim my mother as a deduction on my federal taxes. If you provide more than 50% of her support, you are entitled to do this. Since our rent alone exceeds her income, it's very simple. You just take the standard deduction that would be allowed for a child or any other dependent. You do not need to itemize anything, but you may want to keep your own records of your expenses, in case of an audit.
According to IRS pub.502, "Nursing Home: You can include in medical expenses the cost of medical care in a nursing home, home for the aged, or similar institution, for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents. This includes the cost of meals and lodging in the home if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care. Do not include the cost of meals and lodging if the reason for being in the home is personal. You can, however, include in medical expenses the part of the cost that is for medical or nursing care." In the IRS next paragraph describing Nursing Services, it describes a need to split out medical vs. household services: "Generally, only the amount spent for nursing services is a medical expense. If the attendant also provides personal and household services, amounts paid to the attendant must be divided between the time spent performing household and personal services and the time spent for nursing services." There are many places online which describe a need to have been diagnosed with a medical reason, within the past 12 months, to need to be in the medical care, with a medical care plan, which may be provided in a nursing home or in some cases, in assisted living. But I would be very wary of deducting the total cost of AL, since much of the cost you pay is not "medical", unless you have a professional tax accountant saying that you do meet the strict IRS standards. I would not want to be audited for $45,000 of AL expenses and get the penalty for that big of an erroneous expense. But who knows, maybe it is a truly deductible expense and a professional tax accountant is the best place to get an answer that has so much riding on the answer.
BroTrail is correct. IRS.gov is the best place to get answers. Also, investigate an online site that sometimes offers tax advice free of charge such as TaxAct or TurboTax. These are specific to your home/state as well. I found all my questions answered in a simple-to-understand manner at these sites. It's not as difficult as one may think. Good luck!
I recommend you use two tools on the IRS web site: (a) "Who can I claim as a dependent?" should help you find out if your mom can be claimed as your dependent (http://www.irs.gov/uac/Who-Can-I-Claim-as-a-Dependent%3F) and (b) "Can I deduct my medical and dental expenses?" (http://www.irs.gov/uac/Can-I-Deduct-My-Medical-and-Dental-Expenses%3F). These are step-by-step questions which, based on your answers, can help you decide whether you can claim any of the medical expenses you pay for your mom can be deductions on your tax return.
Your mom has to be a qualifying relative. Make sure you figure out if she qualifies. You have to pay at least 51% of her support versus she paying 49%. So if she receives social security or SSI, your amount of support has to be greater. I have a disabled adult son who is my qualifying relative. According to my accountant things like laundry and transportation can be included, but I have receipts for things like medications that are not reimbursed, therapy and respite care without needing to go to those other expenses to be over 51% beyond what my son receives in SSI. You should search qualifying relative on irs.gov for more info.
I would consult a professional tax preparer. The concern I have for this being a truly "deductible" expense, is that what you pay each month is Rent (room, food) plus there may be some Companion Care (housekeeping, doing her laundry, social activities, community shopping trips), and some Medical Expenses (administration of medications, monitoring her blood pressure). The Medical Expense deduction on IRS tax forms only permits Medical Expenses, as I understand it, not Rent or Community expenses or doing her laundry. I hope some professional tax preparer can provide an "expert" answer but I suspect only truly Medical things are deducted. Otherwise everyone would have quite a lot of laundry expenses to deduct :)
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
Do not include the cost of meals and lodging if the reason for being in the home is personal. You can, however, include in medical expenses the part of the cost that is for medical or nursing care."
In the IRS next paragraph describing Nursing Services, it describes a need to split out medical vs. household services: "Generally, only the amount spent for nursing services is a medical expense. If the attendant also provides personal and household services, amounts paid to the attendant must be divided between the time spent performing household and personal services and the time spent for nursing services."
There are many places online which describe a need to have been diagnosed with a medical reason, within the past 12 months, to need to be in the medical care, with a medical care plan, which may be provided in a nursing home or in some cases, in assisted living. But I would be very wary of deducting the total cost of AL, since much of the cost you pay is not "medical", unless you have a professional tax accountant saying that you do meet the strict IRS standards. I would not want to be audited for $45,000 of AL expenses and get the penalty for that big of an erroneous expense. But who knows, maybe it is a truly deductible expense and a professional tax accountant is the best place to get an answer that has so much riding on the answer.