Help For Widow

Ames

But if she gets DLA she might be entitled to more income support.

tallyhoh

DLA is the equivelent of Attendance Allowance but for the under 65's. People with physical or mental health problems who need help with personal care or have mobility problems might qualify.
I believe the .gov pages have info on it but I dont think this case would fit in.

shining4

firesidemaid wrote: »

why can she not get incapacity benefit for depression? it sounds like she really wouldn't be able to work after all her life not working.

is her gp supportive?

Hi Fire, my dad paid the national insurance for the both of them as a married couple all of her life. She hasnt worked for a long long time. The jobcentre said because of this she was no able to receive incapacity.

Kelly x

shining4

Hi all thankyou so much for your suggestions. Im staying with her at the moment visiting from Gloucester (she lives in Newcastle). Im on her laptop and a bit slow on laptops so will respond more when i get back home. She said she will call citizens advice in morning and is talking about equity release, could someone tell me the risks in this? I would prefer she gets independant advice. My aunt has arranged someone from a builing society to vist on wednesday morning who is supposed to be an independant, but if they are from a building society can they really be truly independant?

Also Neil,

"therefore, and I accept this ain't the time to be selling property, lets say she ends up with £135K pays the loan off leaving her with £130K. £130 @ 5% pa = £6500pa income as opposed to about £2600pa now."

Is this figure if she sells her house or is it to do with equity release, this is a whole new ballgame for me i know nothing about equity release.


hugs
Kelly x

firesidemaid

with equity release or lifetime mortgages (which i know nothing about) you get to stay in your own home - but only get so much of the value plus interest may be added to the 'debt' unless you can pay that monthly.

if you sell your house and live off the money you will then have to move into rented accomodation (perhaps it's worth looking out for sheltered etc accomodation for her) and live off the money, which as another poster has said may be approx £541 a month - this would be on top of a state pension after the age of 61 and would include paying out for rent.

also, selling her house means she would have ?too much income to qualify for pension credit etc, whereas if she kept her home and only got state pension at 61 she would get the minimum income guarantee.

perhaps contact age concern for some info x

misspoppy

Hi Whilst I really feel for your Mums situation the basic problem is that her income is too low. I don't think she should be looking at equity release at her age she should speak to CCCS or national debt helpline or one of the other charities as this is something that should only be concidered in certain situations.

this might not be what you want to here but I think she should look at getting a part time job getting out and about has got to be a good thing. If she has a CPN it would be worth getting in touch with them to look at her care and a plan of action to get her back to health and work.

MrsTinks

Please please please do not do equity release - right now in this financial climate I can see lots of companies going under and some will have clauses in that allows them to get their mittens on the houses well before they should. Your mother could end up getting much less for the house than it's worth (that's usually how they make their money!) and being effectively thrown from her own house... It is NOT something to be done lightly!
Is there any reason she can't do SOME work? She obviously only has herself to look after now your sister has left home so she has plenty of time to do something. Even if it is tills at Tesco! Just because she's been a SAHM for all her life does NOT mean she can't do something else now And it might help her depression to get out and about and meet people and feel useful!

shining4

MrsTine wrote: »

Please please please do not do equity release - right now in this financial climate I can see lots of companies going under and some will have clauses in that allows them to get their mittens on the houses well before they should. Your mother could end up getting much less for the house than it's worth (that's usually how they make their money!) and being effectively thrown from her own house... It is NOT something to be done lightly!
Is there any reason she can't do SOME work? She obviously only has herself to look after now your sister has left home so she has plenty of time to do something. Even if it is tills at Tesco! Just because she's been a SAHM for all her life does NOT mean she can't do something else now And it might help her depression to get out and about and meet people and feel useful!

Hi Mrs Tine, I would rather she get a job, however, she does suffer from extreme anxiety and nerves and this is why my dad brought home the bacon so to speak and my mum stayed home. Maybe she will, but I think it would have to take a major change in her attitude.

With equity release, she appears to be swaying more that way, I would prefer otherwise, but it is ultimately her decision. What I would like to know is can you or anyone advise the best company bank/provider she could do this with (if she decided to) that is more likely to last through the current financial climate?

thankyou, thanks to everyone,

Kelly x

shining4

misspoppy wrote: »

Hi Whilst I really feel for your Mums situation the basic problem is that her income is too low. I don't think she should be looking at equity release at her age she should speak to CCCS or national debt helpline or one of the other charities as this is something that should only be concidered in certain situations.

this might not be what you want to here but I think she should look at getting a part time job getting out and about has got to be a good thing. If she has a CPN it would be worth getting in touch with them to look at her care and a plan of action to get her back to health and work.

Hi Miss Poppy, thanks, I know the national debtline i used it myself a few years back and I am a lot better off now with regards to debts. What is CCCS? and CPN?

THANKS
Kelly x

Ames

What help is she getting with her anxiety? I really think it'd be worth putting in a claim for DLA if she's got a supportive GP. I get higher rate care mainly for my mental health problems, even if she gets nothing she hasn't lost out by applying.