Is this a conflict of interest?

[Lee-Bee]

The time has long passed for this to have been discussed (it should have been agreed upon before hiring her). They have formed an agreement and you can't do anything to change that.

Discussing it with her won't change the fact they have created a plan/contract together for future care. Would you really want to force the family to stay with you? I would expect that would cause great tension and resentment.

All you can do is move on. When you hire a new staff member ensure you have something in writing to prevent this from happening again...but the reality is even with a contract saying they won't take your current families with you there likely isn't much you can do. Would you really take them to court? What financial and reputable costs would that entail?

The best you can do is keep things smooth and civil with both those parties...who knows what the future will hold, they may come back to you in short time realizing they left something good behind. Don't burn those bridges now!