Since joining Pro Seniors as a staff attorney last summer, Whitney Glover has noticed a few disturbing trends in nursing home practices: 

• Neglecting to follow the presentment statute (ORC 2117.06) for filing a claim against the estate within six months after a death and then suing the deceased’s family member to pay for services provided. 
  
• Failing to adequately educate incoming residents about admissions agreements at the time of signing. 
  
• Encouraging family members to sign admissions documents—despite state law prohibiting making admissions conditional on someone signing as a guarantor—and then using those documents to hold family members liable for expenses incurred by the deceased. 

“If a person doesn’t respond to a claim filed against them, the petitioner will be awarded a default judgement, which if not set aside by the court, could result in costs that exceed the amount owed to the facility,” Whitney said, noting that sometimes family members sign admissions forms not as a guarantor but as a representative of a loved one who is incapable of signing. Later, the nursing home claims the signature makes the representative financially responsible. Even family members who signed nothing at all could end up liable if a nursing home decides to sue them, and they don’t respond. 

“They will get garnished and not be able to get out of it,” Whitney said. “It’s a business model where institutions are banking on people not being sophisticated enough to respond.” 

That’s where Legal Aid comes in. 

In a recent case, after declining to file claim against a deceased patient’s estate within six months after her death, the nursing home sued her daughter for $56,000 even though the daughter had never signed as a guarantor. Whitney, who works on debt collection and elder exploitation cases, filed a counter claim under the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. After a few months of back and forth, Whitney determined that if her client won the case on its merits, the nursing home was going to file a new complaint that would require her client to pay thousands of dollars in deposition and discovery costs. Whitney cautioned her client against pushing for a victory in court even though it seemed likely. Instead, Whitney and her client made an offer to settle at $1,500—much less than what she would have paid for expenses resulting from a broader claim. The nursing home accepted the settlement immediately, including an agreement not to file any additional claims. 

In a newer case, Whitney is preparing to file a complaint against a facility that attempted to have the son of two deceased residents sign an admissions agreement after the parents passed away. Beginning just days after his mother died, the facility began harassing him daily to sign on to his parents’ contract. Pro Seniors is preparing to file a claim on the son’s behalf, also under the Consumer Sales Practices Act. 

“The best guidance I can give those helping loved ones into long-term facilities,” Glover said, “is to have the admissions documents reviewed by an attorney.” 

Pro Seniors provides this service to Ohio seniors of any income level through their Legal Helpline, scheduling over 60 phone appointments daily. In 2025, helpline attorneys assisted on over 14,000 calls. For a telephone appointment, anyone age 60 or over—or calling on behalf of an Ohio seniors—may call Intake at 1-800-488-6070, 9 AM to 3 PM, Monday through Friday.