Selling a property to fund care

Mrs_Money

We are just about to sell a property for a relative in care. Well, I should actually have said, we are just about to put it on the market - selling may take some time at the moment!

Trouble is, we are getting some anecdotal information from another relative which is a bit worrying - they say that the Local Authority can seize the house and sell it for you if you don't sell it within 12 weeks - this would be impossible to achieve in a bouyant market anyway - so it can't be correct?

There's another complication (a good one - I think!) in that half the house is willed to the couple's children by the first (deceased) partner. (It's the surviving partner that is in care). The owned the property as Tenants in Common.

This seems to make any "seizing" by the LA doubly impossible- doesn't it? I've researched online for hours and only come up with the one concrete fact - that the property can be sold eventually after the person who is in care dies (repayment has to be within 56 days of the death I think) to repay the amount of care home fees.

I'm hoping someone on here knows their stuff and can point me in the direction of the actual rules!
Thanks.

ukmaggie45

Sorry to hear that your relative has had to go into care. It's a nightmare, and there's very little help available sorting things out. I can't answer your question, though others may be along shortly who can. But please see my next paragraph!

Are you certain that your relative isn't eligible for Continuing Health Care from the NHS? You prob won't be told about this option, but you should look into it. There's a very useful thread here.

My best wishes to you, and good luck with this thankless task.

Mrs_Money

Thanks for your reply - yes, I'm reasonably sure that (from reading loads on here about Continuing Care) that my relative would not be classed as needing it (has mild dementia, memory probs, incontinence, no physical mobility - bed or wheelchair bound). "Healthy" apart from that - although I personally think that should all be enough to qualify for free NHS care - I'm aware that the checklist system would probably prove otherwise!

Errata

Trouble is, we are getting some anecdotal information from another relative which is a bit worrying - they say that the Local Authority can seize the house and sell it for you if you don't sell it within 12 weeks - this would be impossible to achieve in a bouyant market anyway - so it can't be correct?

That's completely incorrect. However, LA's can put a charge on the property so that when it's sold they will get money from the sale to cover the amount they've spent funding the care home fees up to that point.

Mrs_Money

Yes, that's exactly what I had read -i thought we were right. Phew! One less worry over with!

pollypenny

If they were Tenants in Common and there is a Trust in place, only the half belonging to the person in care can be counted.

You do need to get proper advice though. Age Concern, or whatever they are called now, would be a good start.

anmarj

most local authorities give people 12 weeks to sell a property before they will be classed as self funding but if it goes beyond that they don't sieze it as some one stated they would put a charge on the house, think your relative has got the wrong end of the stick!

Julie_J

I'm just about to deal with a family where the house sale money has almost run out - so there will be a shortfall in what the council will pay and what the home requires. This can be as little as £25 to £150 per week (cases I've dealt with). The family is expected to find the shortfall from somewhere - it cannot be taken from the person's personal needs allowance.

I suggest you consider whether the relative can remain in the same home if the money runs out. In one case the resident moved to another home which she liked thankfully and the shortfall was minimal.

Biggles

Julie_J wrote: »

I'm just about to deal with a family where the house sale money has almost run out - so there will be a shortfall in what the council will pay and what the home requires. This can be as little as £25 to £150 per week (cases I've dealt with). The family is expected to find the shortfall from somewhere - it cannot be taken from the person's personal needs allowance.

I suggest you consider whether the relative can remain in the same home if the money runs out. In one case the resident moved to another home which she liked thankfully and the shortfall was minimal.

Better still, consider investing some of the proceeds of the house sale in an immediate care needs annuity, to ensure that the funds won't run out in the first place!