Last week, our reader question was from a nurse who stopped working at a hospital to care for her mother-in-law and father-in-law for four years, and to enable them to die at home after long illnesses. While putting in 12 to 16 hour days for no pay, she lost her income, retirement, and contributions to her Social Security.

While her in-laws intended to take care of her financially, they put nothing in writing and she had no contract. Then, after the second death, her husband’s siblings came in to claim their equal shares under their parents’ old wills. Her question: “I was not going to ask for anything, but now that the sibs are torturing my husband and me and not being thankful for the sacrifices we made, I would like to know if I can make any type of claim for what I did.”

The first part of the answer can be found by clicking the related article link below. “Now,” as Paul Harvey says, “for the rest of the story.”

Answer: Without a contract, a person who renders valuable services can still seek the value of those services by filing a claim against the estate in what is called “quantum meruit”. In order to attempt to collect, the claim must be filed against the estate during the statutory claims period, which may vary from state to state. For that reason, it is imperative, in our opinion, that you retain an attorney to handle this for you because if you miss the filing deadline, you won’t be able to collect. While the post-filing procedure may also vary from state to state, an experienced attorney will be able to shepherd you through the process.

How far back can you go to make a claim? According to the law of most states, there is no statute of limitations when it comes to making equitable claims like this. Otherwise, beneficiaries like your husband’s siblings would be unjustly enriched by the inheritance because, had you not performed four years’ of service to keep their parents at home, their estates would have been diminished by the cost of a nursing facility or round-the-clock care.

Since you, as a daughter-in-law, did not owe a legal or moral obligation to provide these services to your in-laws, you should be able to secure compensation for what you did. But how do you prove the value of what you did?

First, calculate everything you did on a daily basis, including the number of hours that you spent each day -- either at your in-laws’ home or that you were available. Then, determine, based on the marketplace, how much per hour your in-laws would have had to spend to pay individuals to do what you did. Remember, however, that some of the tasks you performed would be compensated at the same hourly rate as a private duty nurse, while other tasks would be compensated at sitters’ or aides’ hourly rates.

Since your calculations should include interest that could have been earned on the sums you should have been paid, it is probably a good idea to enlist the services of a forensic certified public accountant to make these calculations for you.

Taking the NextStep: Remember that if you are successful, every penny you receive will be taxable income to you and, as such, you will be required to pay not only income taxes, but also FICA, Medicare, and possibly other expenses, so try to have all of these deductions built into the calculations. Finally, a word to the wise: If you are going to provide assistance to individuals who say they intend to compensate you, have a contract prepared up front.