Trish Richert recently signed a binding employment contract. In exchange for taking care of a 77-year-old woman -- arranging and taking her to doctors' appointments, doing her bills, keeping her house tidy -- Ms. Richert, of Greensboro, N.C., receives a modest stipend that covers travel expenses and other costs. Ms. Richert's employer: her mother. The two recently entered into a so-called caregiver contract -- a formal agreement, set up by a lawyer -- in which Ms. Richert, 45, receives a small payment for the long hours she spends caring for her mom. A small but growing number of families are setting up caregiver contracts, in which adult children or other relatives are hired, for modest salaries, to take care of elderly or disabled family members. These arrangements, which are also called personal-service or personal-care agreements, can help reduce the size of a parent's estate and thereby improve their chances of becoming eligible for long-term-care coverage under Medicaid.