sorting older rellies finances.

lorny80

hi, i was wondering where might be the best place to find out info about savings, investments and the like for my grandmother who is 86.
she wants to know things about thresholds for paying for care in her home, IHT, things like that.
would anyone on here, be able to give me some advice?
thanks very much.

Errata

The Age Concern website has leaflets giving info your gran is seeking. They are written very clearly and you can download them and print them off.

myrnahaz

You have a very sensible Gran, Lorny.

lorny80

myrnahaz wrote: »

You have a very sensible Gran, Lorny.

she is, but i wish she would stop listening to her 'helpful' friends!!;)

Merrywidow

When my mother needed to go into a retirement home, social services simply asked me "does she have under or over £20,000?" She had under and she now surrenders her State pension and two widow's pensions to pay for her care. Property owners are another ball game. Good luck

Errata

lorny80 wrote: »

she is, but i wish she would stop listening to her 'helpful' friends!!;)

If you print off the relevant leaflets on the Age Concern website and give them to her, she'll have reliable information in black and white.

lorny80

Merrywidow wrote: »

When my mother needed to go into a retirement home, social services simply asked me "does she have under or over £20,000?" She had under and she now surrenders her State pension and two widow's pensions to pay for her care. Property owners are another ball game. Good luck

did she have to provide info about where her money had gone? and did she own her property? i think each council can make their own rules about paying for care cant they?:cool:
?

googler

lorny80 wrote: »

and did she own her property?

I thought that was answered with the phrase "Property owners are another ball game", with the implication that the person referred to wasn't.....

Farway

lorny80 wrote: »

did she have to provide info about where her money had gone? .... i think each council can make their own rules about paying for care cant they?:cool:
?

If by implication your relative is thinking of giving her money or property away to avoid having to pay for care then this is termed "deliberate deprivation of assets" and councils are entitled to assume she still has these assets and charge accordingly

If I have misunderstood then my apologies

Merrywidow

My mother was 92 when she went into her retirement home. She had £1600 in savings and shares. My parents shared out their capital from the sale of their house in the 80's between my brother and me. Dad died in 1991 leaving enough money for my mother to live on comfortably in their council bungalow with his two pensions. and their savings.

When the social services accepted her need for a retirement home they came to see me, they requested to see all her bank books, pension books, etc etc. They do their sums and tell you what you must pay for. In mum's case that was an amount which was the total of her state pension and two widow's pensions. The Attendance allowance is stopped and a weekly pocket money of £25 give or take is allocated. The difference is paid by social services.

Bottom line - if you don't own a property and have under £20,000 in savings they fund the difference between her income and the cost of the home.

Mum is now 97 and now needs full nursing care. Her costs have naturally gone up but that is also funded by social services.

Hopefully I don't need to tell you that as her children we are not responsible for the costs of her care.

monkeyspanner

lorny80 wrote: »

hi, i was wondering where might be the best place to find out info about savings, investments and the like for my grandmother who is 86.
she wants to know things about thresholds for paying for care in her home, IHT, things like that.
would anyone on here, be able to give me some advice?
thanks very much.

In home care is the responsibility of the social services department of the local council and your grandmothers income and assets would be assessed although her house if she owns it would be ignored. Unlike the financial system for residential care which has some national rules regarding assessment, in-home care depends on local rules and financial resources so it would be best to approach your local council for details of the support they offer.

Residential care has national rules regarding assessment (Wales and Scotland have different rules from England) although the assessments are administered again by local social services. This charity have a very good fact sheet on paying for care www.counselandcare.org.uk

Essentially if your grandmothers estate is likely to be under the IHT threshold of £325000 then she need not be concerned about any gifts she wishes to make. If likely to be over this limit then there are anual gift exemptions she will need to consider.

Gifts also can have an effect on assessments for financial assistance for residential care as if a person deliberately deprived themselves of assets in order to qualify for assistance then the council could assess that person as still having the asset or in some circumstances take steps to recover the gift from the recipient.