can council force sale of Mum's home?

Cranny44

Never heard of a council being able to get COP quicker than family... It takes just the same amount of time, as does dealing with the DWP we dont get info/help any quicker than the next person. I sometimes deal with corporate appiontees for the local council and we dont sell any houses for people and never have done, we still only have a legal charge on it - which can sit there for years. As for clients with excess capital/property we dont like to deal with them and ask the council to find them an independant solicitor to deal with their finances instead, if no suitable family member is available. Therefore the only thing we usually do is collect benefits (cant touch private pensions or access private bank accounts) and pay this over to the finance dept along with the clients pocket money to the home.

As for social workers thinking about money first........ show me one cos i dont work with any that think about money and they often cause more problems cos they dont think about it, or discuss it with clients and familes.

soolin

Cranny44 wrote: »

N
As for social workers thinking about money first........ show me one cos i dont work with any that think about money and they often cause more problems cos they dont think about it, or discuss it with clients and familes.

In my case all the SS department wanted was money, they phoned me all the time to bully me about it, and threatened me quite a bit with placing dad and taking his money if I didn't hurry it and sort it out. Half the time they were so busy bullying me for money they actually forgot who they had called me about and referred to 'my mum'.

So yes it happens, maybe your local authority has the benefit of an excess of Government money, the ones I dealt with did not.

Squoozy

Thank you all for your replies about this. I have had a busy few days and only just come online again.

I went with the solicitor to the hospital last Thursday. The solicitor was fantastic. When we arrived the nurse immediately made a comment about my Mum not wanting to see anyone, but the solicitor was really calm and asked for a room to be made available. Mum was delighted to see me and when I explained why the solicitor was there she immediately said that was a good idea. I left the solicitor with Mum alone for 35 minutes and when they came out of the room Mum had signed both a financial and a care power of attorney. The solicitor said immediately (and then again on the phone later) that she was amazed how 'with it' Mum was, given what the consultant had been saying. She said that she had no doubt at all that Mum knew exactly what she was signing and that Mum had told her over and over that she knows I will always do the right thing for her.

I then went to see the finance people at the council offices, and since the POA has been signed, they backed off completely and said that we can defer payment for Mum's care and will not have to sell the house. Yesterday I went with my sister to look at care homes close to me. Most of them were absolutely dire, and just as we were both beginning to despair we found one that is just like a little hotel. Its very samll, only 20 residents, and has a lovely manager and a number of pets. The room they have vacant is lovely and she can take her own furniture and they have lots of activities.

I can't tell you how relieved I am at the moment. Hiring the solicitor was the best thing I could have done, and she has been so supportive and firm with everyone. I just feel really sad that we were forced into the position of having to seek her help and that so many other people won't have the means to do that. The whole system is unfair and reliant on people not knowing what to do and on creating an air of confusion and loss of control, which is exactly the opposite of how things should be.

Biggles

Excellent news, Squoozy.

Cranny44

soolin wrote: »

In my case all the SS department wanted was money, they phoned me all the time to bully me about it, and threatened me quite a bit with placing dad and taking his money if I didn't hurry it and sort it out. Half the time they were so busy bullying me for money they actually forgot who they had called me about and referred to 'my mum'.

So yes it happens, maybe your local authority has the benefit of an excess of Government money, the ones I dealt with did not.

Lol :rotfl:


my local council is about the tightest if not the tightest one in the UK and we are the lowest paid council.

However when our finance bit is done it goes to our corporate finance dept and they are prone to chasing for money, so problem is most councils dont work or operate their departments in the same way hence your experience.

You shouldnt be called like that hope you complained as seems like threatening behaviour to me, our legal team may call people but the debt would have to old and substantial for that to happen... we write a mean letter though..:o

amersall

Squoozy wrote: »

Thank you all for your replies about this. I have had a busy few days and only just come online again.

I went with the solicitor to the hospital last Thursday. The solicitor was fantastic. When we arrived the nurse immediately made a comment about my Mum not wanting to see anyone, but the solicitor was really calm and asked for a room to be made available. Mum was delighted to see me and when I explained why the solicitor was there she immediately said that was a good idea. I left the solicitor with Mum alone for 35 minutes and when they came out of the room Mum had signed both a financial and a care power of attorney. The solicitor said immediately (and then again on the phone later) that she was amazed how 'with it' Mum was, given what the consultant had been saying. She said that she had no doubt at all that Mum knew exactly what she was signing and that Mum had told her over and over that she knows I will always do the right thing for her.

I then went to see the finance people at the council offices, and since the POA has been signed, they backed off completely and said that we can defer payment for Mum's care and will not have to sell the house. Yesterday I went with my sister to look at care homes close to me. Most of them were absolutely dire, and just as we were both beginning to despair we found one that is just like a little hotel. Its very samll, only 20 residents, and has a lovely manager and a number of pets. The room they have vacant is lovely and she can take her own furniture and they have lots of activities.

I can't tell you how relieved I am at the moment. Hiring the solicitor was the best thing I could have done, and she has been so supportive and firm with everyone. I just feel really sad that we were forced into the position of having to seek her help and that so many other people won't have the means to do that. The whole system is unfair and reliant on people not knowing what to do and on creating an air of confusion and loss of control, which is exactly the opposite of how things should be.

Really happy for you that things turnrd out well. Now you can concentrate on your mum xx i wish you all the best.

monkeyspanner

Pleased to hear of the progress you have made. I hope the care home works out well. If you felt comfortable with it there is a good chance your Mum will too.

margaretclare

I can't tell you how relieved I am at the moment. Hiring the solicitor was the best thing I could have done, and she has been so supportive and firm with everyone. I just feel really sad that we were forced into the position of having to seek her help and that so many other people won't have the means to do that. The whole system is unfair and reliant on people not knowing what to do and on creating an air of confusion and loss of control, which is exactly the opposite of how things should be.

You've put the whole thing into a nutshell! And it's an absolute disgrace that this situation has come to pass.

Many people seem to want to 'penny-pinch' and do it themselves, rather than calling in a legally-qualified professional, which can turn out to be a very false economy indeed.

The nurse who made noises about 'Mum not wanting to see anyone' would be well aware of the fact that everyone has a right to see their legal representative, even someone accused of a crime! Mum's legal representative could not be prevented from seeing her in private.

Well done!

beaujolais-nouveau

Squoozy wrote: »

I went with the solicitor to the hospital last Thursday. The solicitor was fantastic. ... I can't tell you how relieved I am at the moment. Hiring the solicitor was the best thing I could have done, and she has been so supportive and firm with everyone. ...

You have made me so happy, reading this, and I have logged in just to say well done. :T