I live in PA. My mother now lives with us. She was living alone, and fell in Dec 2016. Had a hospital stay. A condition to be released from hospital was she could not go home. (live alone). She now lives with my husband and I. She wants to pay rent etc. Do I need a legal contract. And if yes can I create one or should I get an attorney to do it.
More to the point, has she given you Power of Attorney? If not, and she is able to do that, then your best plan would be to see a lawyer with good experience of elder care and get everything sorted at the same time.
Well done to mother for volunteering! It's often a sad surprise that people living with their families think it somehow doesn't cost money to keep them :/
The assumption is that the mothers finances are being given the five year look-back to qualify for Medicaid.
Least this happen to you, it would be wise to put everything into a contract drawn up by an elder care attorney. While food and rent might not be required to be in the contract - if it were me, I'd want to cover every base.
Better to be safe than sorry, don't you think?