Care home fees and inheritance tax

maz7

My father died suddenly several years ago and my mother (who is in good health at the moment) is concerned that after they both worked hard and saved for their retirement then should she get ill and require to go into a nursing home then she will be unable to pass on her estate as any care home fees would be taken out of her assets.
While I'm sure some people will see this as 'if she can afford to pay then she should' but she (and my late father) always stated that it is unfair that the savers have to pay for care whilst the non-savers and provision makers get their care for free. She wants to pass on their assets to their children and grandchildren.
She's getting really concerned about it now. Can anyone advise on what should be done or where in particular to seek further information? Thank you

John_Pierpoint

By now there is probably no simple solution to the care fees lottery.
Similarly death tax is not an optional tax like it used to be.
We need to know more about the structure and objectives of the generations of your family (ages and assets minus debts) before any sensible observations could be made.
In the mean time you could experiment with the "forum search" facilities at the top of the page to find many threads similar to yours; or use Google to do the same thing better by putting this into your Google search,:
“care home” site: forums.moneysavingexpert.com

le_loup

Question yourself first, you are not a neutral observer but you may be able to persuade your mother that paying for her own care is in her best interest. It can give her a higher level of care than the basic council provision and her family ought to stand on their own two feet.
Councils can refuse payment of care fees if they observe that the person has given away their assets in order to deliberately deprive themselves. On you more general point about "unfairness", life is unfair but we all have a responsibility to look after those who are unable to look after themselves.
Finally, your father and mother saved for a rainy day: if it starts to rain AFTER you have taken her umbrella , she may get very wet.

Mojisola

Before your mother takes any decisions about this, take her round to visit some care homes funded by the local authority and some privately funded ones. She may decide to keep her money for herself.

Remember very few people actually need to go into care homes. If they do, there are other ways of funding the cost. Your mother will still have any pensions coming in and Attendance Allowance. She could buy a care annuity. Her house could be rented out to help pay the extra.

It may be worth looking at her home now and see if it's worth spending money on it so that your Mum has a good living environment now which would be easily rentable if the need arose.

John_Pierpoint

Mojisola wrote: »

Remember very few people actually need to go into care homes.

I don't want to start a forum war, but where do you get this statistic?

My recollection of having the same "problem" when my late mother had her stroke and needed 24/7 care, is that the figure for widows is something between 1/3 and 1/4.

That does not include the widows, like my mother, where the family struggle to keep her in her own home or in the home(s) of the children.

If you create a "granny flat" beware of the local authority finding out and claiming it is an illegal self contained development.

One final thought, when you "lose your marbles" it is the short term memory that goes first (it is like taking a family photo album and tearing out pictures at random starting with the newest ones); so arriving in a new care home can leave the elderly person friendless, lost and confused.

Mojisola

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

I don't want to start a forum war, but where do you get this statistic?

My recollection of having the same "problem" when my late mother had her stroke and needed 24/7 care, is that the figure for widows is something between 1/3 and 1/4.

That does not include the widows, like my mother, where the family struggle to keep her in her own home or in the home(s) of the children.

If you create a "granny flat" beware of the local authority finding out and claiming it is an illegal self contained development.

One final thought, when you "lose your marbles" it is the short term memory that goes first (it is like taking a family photo album and tearing out pictures at random starting with the newest ones); so arriving in a new care home can leave the elderly person friendless, lost and confused.

A lot depends on age. These are for Scotland - "The proportion of older people receiving care changes with age, with only 3% of people aged 65 to 74 currently receiving care services while some 40% of people aged 85+ are receiving them." From "Reshaping the Care of Older People Debate Briefing.pdf" This is all formal care, not just residential care, so the percentage in care homes is even smaller.

These figures don't take into account those receiving informal care by relatives such as my parents but then they aren't in the position of having to sell their home to fund their care. That's what worries people but unless they survive to a very good age, they are unlikely to find themselves needing to do this.

Your description of memory loss is so true. I have seen people trying to "make" their relatives remember things as if they were naughty children deliberately forgetting things. The person with memory problems can't remember because, as you say, the memories have been pulled out and destroyed.

lincroft1710

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

If you create a "granny flat" beware of the local authority finding out and claiming it is an illegal self contained development.

Anyone who is thinking of creating a "granny flat" should obtain any necessary planning permission and building regs. Councils are often quite amenable to "granny flats" but will nearly always make it a condition that the flat cannot be sold separately from the main dwelling.

Nosht

If property is involved protect it in a trust which will need expert advice for so doing.


N.

Caroline_a

My dad worried about his money too. However, from my point of view, as others have said, this was for his rainy day. When it became obvious to both him and me that he (and I) could not cope with the level of care he needed, I found a fabulous private care home that was just like a hotel (his words, not mine!). He kept asking if he could afford it, which he could, but his money would have run out eventually. Sadly he died soon after going into the home, peacefully and in his sleep. It was worth every penny though to see him comfortable in his last few days.