Bills, Mail, and Phone Calls: What the Family Keeps Before Anyone Is Hired

Most families think about hired help as a question of hands: who lifts, who drives, who cooks. The harder question is who holds the checkbook, opens the mail, and answers the phone when the bank calls. Settle that first. It sets how much work you can hand off and how much you still carry yourself.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Why money and records go first

A caregiver can do a great deal of daily work. Money and records are a different kind of trust. Decide who keeps these tasks before you hire, and write the decision down. Then the agency has a fixed boundary to answer to, not a guess.

The tasks to pin down

Go through this list with a pen. Next to each line, write family, agency, or shared.

Paying bills and reviewing statements. Keep bank cards, checks, and online logins with a family member or another trusted person. Do not hand them over as a habit.

Opening and sorting mail. Decide who sees bills, insurer letters, and benefit notices. Decide who responds, and by when.

Answering the phone. Decide who takes calls from the bank, the insurer, and the doctor's office. Health questions go to the family's doctor. Scheduling calls are the easiest to hand off.

Keeping the calendar. Appointments, rides, and visit times belong in a shared calendar that the whole family can see.

What to ask each agency

Ask whether its caregivers may handle a client's money, cards, or checks in any way. Ask what the agency does when a family asks for that anyway. Get the answer in writing. A plain yes or no is a finding. A vague answer is a finding too.

Ask who the office contact is for scheduling and billing questions. Ask how quickly that person picks up the phone during business hours.

The check you run yourself

Once a month, sit down with the calendar and the bills. Compare the visit log against the invoice. If they do not match, call the agency before you pay. Do not wait for the next statement. For the billing terms you should expect to see, read how to read a home care quote.