Friday, February 6, 2009

Conservator Kept Social Security Benefits

Police arrested a man who has been charged with keeping Social Security benefits he’d agreed to use to pay for the cost of his grandmother’s nursing home care.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Christopher Brazinskas was appointed the conservator for his grandmother by the Manchester Probate Court in January 2006. It states that he was responsible for managing her finances, including handling her monthly Social Security checks.

Under an agreement with the Department of Social Services, which pays most of his grandmother’s care, Brazinskas was required to remit a portion of the Social Security money to the nursing home.

Brazinskas didn’t make the required payments from Feb. 1, 2006, to March 1, 2007, totaling $7,535, according to the warrant.

Full Article and Source:
Police: Man Kept Grandma's Social Security

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

But were the SS benefits used to buy additonal items for his Grandmother that the nursing home doesn't supply?

This case will result in a court-appointed guardian, I'm afraid.

Anonymous said...

Many times, I have personally run into such cases where family do not understand obligations of Medicaid/Medicare.

Oftentimes, estates are hit with unexpected expense due to what was assumed as Medicaid covered expense. The family is making the assumption that all the additional care benefits are "free" since the patient is medicaid covered. It is a misunderstanding of poorly explained responsibility.

Anonymous said...

Of course, not paying the bills is a standard practice for professional guardians, but for family guardians, it's not something they usually do -- unless they are realy stealing or made an honest mistake.