When you notice that an elderly loved one has become less self-reliant, you may start to wonder if they need help. When your dad stops shaving or your mother continues to let the mail pile up, you may offer to help out with household duties. However, as your loved ones continue to forget or simply aren’t mobile enough to do things they used to, it can put a lot of strain on your daily life.

But, you don’t have to care for your loved ones by yourself: It’s okay to ask for help. This doesn’t necessarily mean sending them to a nursing home, but it can mean hiring someone to help in running errands, doing the dishes, paying the bills, and performing other tasks that you may not have the time or capacity to help with. Here are five signs it’s time to find professional help for your elderly loved ones.

Do you have a nanny and pay him or her over $2,000 in wages? Congratulations! Now you’re considered a household employer and must file Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. You will have to report your nanny’s income and taxes paid for the year as well as file report and pay employment taxes on your federal income tax return. There are several forms you need to understand if you employ a nanny in the home. Read on to learn more about these tax forms.

Being a victim of fraud can be an incredibly unnerving and stressful time, but when it happens to a senior citizen, it can be even more devastating. Senior scams are on the rise and can result in billions of dollars for thieves, simply because seniors are often trusting and the scams usually apply directly to them. In addition, crooks tend to target the elderly because these people generally have a lifetime of saved income, pensions, or Social Security checks that they can tap into. Seniors may be easily fooled or confused by a smooth talking thief. Fifteen years ago, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging reported that there was $40 billion in losses in telemarketing fraud alone, a number that has steadily climbed over the years according to a recent article in US News and World Report. In fact, there are now elder crime units in various police departments in parts of the country in the effort to protect senior citizens from mistreatment, including fraudulent scams. So, how can you protect senior citizens from becoming a victim of fraud?

If you hire people to work in your home -- such as nannies, private nurses, or housecleaners -- then you’re a household employer. You’re responsible for filing the proper taxes and getting the right paperwork to your employees if you pay them over $2,000 for the year (as of 2016).

Now that it’s tax season, be sure you’re providing your domestic workers with the proper paperwork. Start with the following information to ensure a stress-free tax season.

A household employer may lawfully employ a U.S. citizen, green card holder, or a non-immigrant with an approved Employment Authorization Document (EAD). All employers must complete USCIS Form I-9 with their newly hired employees at time of hire to verify that the individual is properly authorized to work in the United States.

Identifying individuals who are authorized to work in the U.S. can be confusing for household employers, as many individuals are legally present in the United States yet are not authorized to work, and others are NOT lawfully present in the US yet they do have (temporary) authorization to work.

Organizing senior care at home for your mother can be an overwhelming process that is emotional and frought with a lot of big decisions. Once you have done your research and you’ve helped your mother privately hire a caregiver, you’ll have to figure out proper payment solutions for your mom’s caregiver. Not only are there weekly  pay checks to coordinate, but there are also a variety of payroll taxes that need to be calculated and factored in. If this is your first time figuring it all out, it can be incredibly complicated and you may not know where to begin.

It's tax season! Feeling overwhelmed? Do demands feel like they never stops and tasks just keep piling up? To-do lists are ongoing for most people and sometimes it seems like the list just keeps getting longer from week to week. Sometimes there simply just isn’t enough time to get everything done. Even if you do have time to check everything off your to-do list, it is often easier to hire someone else to complete certain tasks for you.

Outsourcing things is a good way to delegate certain parts of your life – especially things that you are not good at or are unfamiliar with. This will not only save you time but it can sometimes save you from big headaches later down the road. For example, if you have a nanny working with your family, you know how important it is to prepare end of year taxes accurately and in a timely manner. If you don’t, you could end up facing steep fines or other fees for errors that could have been avoided if you just outsourced the task in the first place.

Did you know that many states have mandated that household employers have a Worker’s Compensation Insurance Policy?

There are various legal requirements for obtaining this insurance which will vary widely from state to state. Most often, the job description is not the defining item. Instead, wages paid or hours worked will be. Even if your state does not require you to have worker's compensation insurance, smart employers obtain this important protection anyway to protect the family's assets and the household employee in the event of a workplace injury.

Is it time to find a nanny for your family? This is arguably one of the biggest and most important decisions that you will make as a parent. It can be difficult narrowing down your candidates once you have reviewed their resumes, but once you have done that, you’ll need to spend some time getting to know each one during an in-depth interview process. This is probably the most important step when you’re going through the process of hiring a new caregiver for your home.