A New York trial court finds that a woman who signed a nursing home admissions agreement as designated representative is not responsible for paying the resident's nursing home bills based solely on the admissions agreement, but she may be responsible based on her use of a power of attorney to transfer the resident's property. New York Cong. Nursing Ctr. v. Gilchrist (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings County, No. 3966/07, Nov. 25, 2008).
Violet Welsh owned property as tenants by the entireties with her husband. After her husband died, her step-daughter, Dorritt Gilchrist, admitted her to a nursing home. Ms. Gilchrist signed the admissions agreement as "designated representative" and agreed to pay the nursing home bills from the sale of the property. Ms. Gilchrist, acting as attorney-in-fact for Ms. Welsh, sold the property to her son and gave the nursing home half the proceeds. She then told the nursing home there was no more money.
The nursing home sued Ms. Gilchrist, claiming she was required to pay the entire proceeds of the sale of the house to the nursing home. Ms. Gilchrist argued she should not be personally responsible for Ms. Welsh's expenses. Both parties moved for summary judgment.
The Supreme Court of New York denies summary judgment. According to the court, the admissions agreement gave the resident the authority to appoint a "designated representative," and because the resident did not sign the agreement, Ms. Gilchrist did not have authority to act on Ms. Welsh's behalf. The court finds there is a question of fact, however, as to whether the transfer of property by Ms. Gilchrist as attorney-in-fact makes her responsible for paying Ms. Welsh's bills. The court orders the nursing home to add Ms. Welsh as a defendant.
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