How to help my parents

Dillence

Depending on your fathers ill health he may qualify for an attendance allowance and your mum a carers allowance. - direct.gov will help you with this.

louise3965

Did either of the ever serve in the armed forces? If so, https://www.ssafa.org.uk could help you and them

Ssss

Thanks all! The post yesterday was partly out of panic - buying the house was an initial thought - it seems that this does not look a good idea!!

While my brother and I could help out a little (we think we could cover an interest only motgage on £33k @ £90 each a month) we couldn't afford to pay their present mortgage of £600 a month!!

Selling sounds best although their house is in a very poor state of repair. A sheltered flat or bungalow would be good. There is nothing in our area which they could afford to buy (they wood have less than £100k equity) so maybe renting would be best.

If they rent, what happens once their money has been used up? Do people in this situation get housing benefit?

Can they sell and then gift some equity? They would like to leave an inheritence of some kind. I think we all need to go and speak to citizens advice!

A sheltered flat sounds good too - where would we find out about them?

Sorry to sound so dim!! My parents are very proud and never had benefits etc they (and us!) haven't a clue about what to do - they have hidden the situation and now we have panic!!

(ps to the person who asked - they did not serve in the forces!)

Penelope_Penguin

Ssss wrote: »

If they rent, what happens once their money has been used up? Do people in this situation get housing benefit?

Can they sell and then gift some equity? They would like to leave an inheritence of some kind. I think we all need to go and speak to citizens advice!

A sheltered flat sounds good too - where would we find out about them?

Anyone can apply for HB, if they qualify


If they give away any equity there are 2 things to consider:

• if they die within 7 years, the gift can be treated as still within their estate for IHT purposes. This is on a sliding scale, so the longer they survive following the gift, the less will be taken into account
• they could be classed as deliberately depriving themselves of capital so as to claim benefits

Your Local Authority or CAB could assist with sheltered housing.

CAB will be able to do a benefit check in the round, too. They may be eligible for council tax benefit, or pension credits.


Good luck :A

foi1983

Ssss wrote: »

Thanks all! The post yesterday was partly out of panic - buying the house was an initial thought - it seems that this does not look a good idea!!

While my brother and I could help out a little (we think we could cover an interest only motgage on £33k @ £90 each a month) we couldn't afford to pay their present mortgage of £600 a month!!

Selling sounds best although their house is in a very poor state of repair. A sheltered flat or bungalow would be good. There is nothing in our area which they could afford to buy (they wood have less than £100k equity) so maybe renting would be best.

If they rent, what happens once their money has been used up? Do people in this situation get housing benefit?

Can they sell and then gift some equity? They would like to leave an inheritence of some kind. I think we all need to go and speak to citizens advice!

A sheltered flat sounds good too - where would we find out about them?

Sorry to sound so dim!! My parents are very proud and never had benefits etc they (and us!) haven't a clue about what to do - they have hidden the situation and now we have panic!!

(ps to the person who asked - they did not serve in the forces!)

I think the last thing you should be thinking of is inheritance at this point in time.

Your parents can't afford to survive whilst they are alive so that is what should be concentrated on.

If there is anything left to inherit when they pass then great but if not, c'est la vie.

JodyBPM

I think there's a savings threshold of around £16K for benefits (for older adults) , so they could legitimately still have a little in the bank to pass on to your and your brother without trying to "fix" things to do so.

The one thing I would ask is why they are currently paying £600 on a £33K mortgage. This is extortionate, could they not rearrange this? In addition, check out what benefits are available to them, eg pension credit etc.

kegg_2

how does it work out £600 per month on an interest only mortgage of £33k???

My mortgage is way below that and is around £15k more than your parents.

If they did sell up they couldn't give the money away as it would be seen as depriving themselves to gain benefits and so they would be treated as if they still had the money.

Is there anyway they could take in a lodger or summer students to bring in some extra income

Ssss

We agree about the mortgage - seems they have remortgaged several times and have a balance of around 33k on a repayment mortgage which they somehow thought they would clear in 5 or 6 years!! They thought mum would carry on workng to late 60's and everthing would be ok! Sounds barking mad that a mortgage company would even consider this - but they did. My initial response was one of anger - which I deeply regret as it upset mum and dad - they have obviously made some very poor decisions and now paying for it!!

I agree with foi983 - inheritence should not be a priority - it certainly isn't for me and my brother - it is my parents - again, their traditional values!

Thanks again for all advice!

Ssss

Just another thought - could they just keep the £33k mortgage on interest only (therefore much lower payments) and my brother and I pay it. Would a mortgage company consider this knowing that the capital would onlyget paid back on their death? Would we need to declare this anywhere? Would they be able to "port" this mortgage to a bungalow if they found one??

Pollycat

Ssss wrote: »

Thanks all! The post yesterday was partly out of panic - buying the house was an initial thought - it seems that this does not look a good idea!!

While my brother and I could help out a little (we think we could cover an interest only motgage on £33k @ £90 each a month) we couldn't afford to pay their present mortgage of £600 a month!!

Selling sounds best although their house is in a very poor state of repair. A sheltered flat or bungalow would be good. There is nothing in our area which they could afford to buy (they wood have less than £100k equity) so maybe renting would be best.

If they rent, what happens once their money has been used up? Do people in this situation get housing benefit?

Can they sell and then gift some equity? They would like to leave an inheritence of some kind. I think we all need to go and speak to citizens advice!

A sheltered flat sounds good too - where would we find out about them?

Sorry to sound so dim!! My parents are very proud and never had benefits etc they (and us!) haven't a clue about what to do - they have hidden the situation and now we have panic!!

(ps to the person who asked - they did not serve in the forces!)

Have you or your parents spoken to your local council?

My parents sold their small terraced house and moved into a warden-controlled 1st floor flat owned by the council.
I guess the first thing is to check if there are any properties like that in your area and then ask where your parents would be on the waiting list, depending on what your Dad's health problems are they may jump up the list.

How much longer does their mortgage have to go?
As JodyBPM asks - can they get this cheaper elsewhere?

Are you sure that they are getting all the benefits that they are entitled to?
Check out the Pensions SAVINGS Credit - that may apply if your Dad made some provision towards his retirement such as savings or a second pension.

Re the house - you say it's worth £130K but also that it's in a poor state of repair.
Does the £130K take into account the state of the house?