Writing up a formal contract to be paid to take care of your elderly parents is becoming more common due to tougher Medicaid standards concerning payment for nursing homes and other long-term healthcare costs, according to a University of Illinois legal expert.

"To most, the idea is abhorrent because they consider this a family responsibility," said law professor Richard L. Kaplan, who presented research on caregiver agreements in the Canadian Journal of Elder Law. "I'm not sure I've seen anyone who has reacted positively on the first or even second hearing."

Kaplan says the increase is mostly due to Medicaid rules that penalize people for gifts given to the family that could instead have been sold to pay for healthcare. Writing up a formal contract turns those into payments for your caregiving services, which are exempt from the penalty but can be taxed.

The rise of family caregiver agreements is only one part of the increasingly complex world of estate planning, where financial experts, lawyers and accountants work out the best way to handle end-of-life arrangements and the transfer of property to the next generation.

Employment of personal financial advisors such as these is expected to increase 41% from 2006-2016, according to the bureau of labor statistics.