Can a health care surrogate/power of attorney bill estate for expenses incurred?

[NeedAdvice2]

What is the name of your state?

I live in New York State, but have had to travel to Florida repeatedly due to being the health care surrogate/power of attorney for my Mom. My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and confined to a hospital bed for 22 months prior to passing with around the clock home health care. It was necessary for me to travel several times a month at times during some periods to take care of all her banking, income tax, bills, food shopping, meeting with hospices, etc. This has been a very costly endeavor and she advised me orally to reimburse myself. However, due to the fact she wanted to stay at home and I had no idea if her funds would outlast her I opted not to at the time and explained to her my first priority was making sure her wishes for home health care was carried out. Now that she has passed, am I allowed to bill the estate for these expenses? If so, do I bill the estate by sending a bill as an outstanding amount to the lawyer or am I just allowed to pay myself back thru funds made available to me after I am appointed her Personal Rep.?What is the name of your state?

 

[BlondiePB]

What is the name of your state?

I live in New York State, but have had to travel to Florida repeatedly due to being the health care surrogate/power of attorney for my Mom. My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and confined to a hospital bed for 22 months prior to passing with around the clock home health care. It was necessary for me to travel several times a month at times during some periods to take care of all her banking, income tax, bills, food shopping, meeting with hospices, etc. This has been a very costly endeavor and she advised me orally to reimburse myself. However, due to the fact she wanted to stay at home and I had no idea if her funds would outlast her I opted not to at the time and explained to her my first priority was making sure her wishes for home health care was carried out. Now that she has passed, am I allowed to bill the estate for these expenses? If so, do I bill the estate by sending a bill as an outstanding amount to the lawyer or am I just allowed to pay myself back thru funds made available to me after I am appointed her Personal Rep.?What is the name of your state?

Have your attorney submit your claim to the court. The judge will decide whether or not you will be reimbursed.

 

[pojo2]

to take care of all her banking, income tax, bills, food shopping, meeting with hospices, etc. QUOTE]

Come on, in this day and age of computerization even I would find it hard to believe you made trips for banking issues, paying bills and food shopping if there was someone in the home with her at all times.

I am not being critical but you are a daughter/son after all and some of your trips come under that heading. Certainly you MIGHT be entitled to some expense reimbursement but I find your list as stated above to be dubious.

 

[NeedAdvice2]

I agree 100% with you that there is a good deal of my trips that fall under being a caring child. However, you would have to realize that my mother was confined to a hospital bed for over 22 months. It was impossible to leave her alone in the home, nor did she have any immediate family in the area. Being homebound for years prior did not lend to many friends and those that remained were elderly. Then let's compound the situation with a woman who is of sound mind, and does not want to give up what little independence she has. She refused to have her mail forwarded to my address which made the situation impossible for me not to fly down frequently. Then let's throw in another wrench..a sister who during this whole time made one trip after she was diagnosed to never return and help made any type of decisions because she was not power of attorney. It is a very hard place to be when you are told your parent has 4 months..and then it turns into 22 months. You are trying to respect their wishes, but unfortunately you end up taking on a great deal of financial responsibility for them, as well as yourself. If I was a selfish individual, I could have paid out the monies she told me to take before she died; however, I realized that my first priority was to make sure she had the funds to care for herself.