How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

ChocClare

ceridwen wrote: »

The unfairness is what rankles.

The thing is too that it is very very obvious that the people who complain about Household 1 people do seem to be those who don't own their own homes - I have never yet noticed anyone who owns their own home complaining that people shouldnt be allowed to continue to do so if the State wants to be able to take money out of that house for nursing home fees. I have only ever seen people who rent their homes complaining. <Sits back and hopes that a home-owner will now come in and say "I'm a home-owner and I think its fair for home-owners to have to pay...">

I do know what you mean about its being seemingly "unfair" (although I'm not sure I'm entirely clear what you're saying in the paragraph underneath ) but that is no more unfair than people working and paying their bills and a certain "scrounging" element seeming "always" to know their way round the benefits system. There will always be responsible people in society and those who are effectively parasites and unfortunately no society seems to have come up with a good way of getting rid of the latter while encouraging the former!

The fact is that if you own your own house you have far more CHOICE in where you go. If you have no money, you go where you are put - and some of the council homes are pretty grim. If you have a house and have savings of less than £23,500, then social services will pay for you to go into the home of your choice for 12 weeks (as long as you top up any difference between what they pay and what the home charges) while you sell your house and the money they pay towards your care does NOT have to be repaid. Indeed, most social services then take out what is called a deferred payment on your house after the 12 weeks are up, meaning that they take a charge on your house so that you DON'T have to sell it while you're alive. You live where you like, and social services pay your full fees in the home of your choice, with your house being sold on your death to repay them - an interest free loan in fact. Selling your house (or having a deferred payment on it) will then enable you presumably to have a far better quality of life than those who had no capital to start with. If you have spent all your money on wine, (wo)men and song, then you will have £22.30 per week if memory serves to buy what wine, (wo)men and song you can while living in a not necessarily great place.

So it's not necessarily as unfair as it might seem.

GreyQueen

:T Congratters, Bertiebots!

ChocClare

Congrats, Bertiebots - you must be so pleased!

Ceridwen, if I were in that position, I would make sure that my house was owned at least partly by my kids. The trouble with that (our solicitor told us years ago) is that if you hand over ownership of your house or part of it to your kids and they marry and then divorce, then the estranged partner of your child could then be entitled to their share of your house, meaning you'd have to pay them off and maybe even have to raise a loan on the house to enable you to do so :eek:

However don't forget that if you have a) an immediate family member over 60 or b) an immediate family member who is disabled living in the house with you, then your home CANNOT be counted as part of your capital for the purposes of paying for your care. Although with a disabled child, I guess the question of whether they were able to live alone in the house once you were gone would be raised, in which case I would make sure that the house was at least partly in their name...

Rowan9

Way to go Bertiebots:T...you cleverclogs you!! All the best for tonight.
Have had a good march round the park with the dogs so nice free exercise for me and a chance to look at 'my' snowdrops again. They are bloomin' marvellous :dance:. Stalks for the daffs are looking good and strong. They are planted in grassy areas in the park and look fab when in bloom.
We have a new Asian shop near us - think I said before - got 2 huge onions there for 18p. I like a bargain:dance:! Might make some cream of onion soup. I used to have a recipe - will dig it out or find one on the internet.
D&DD - I was reading your 'old' thread on shopping from storecupboards and it really inspired me!
W

kidcat

Congratulations bertiebots:)

Its lovely to hear good news amongst the doom and gloom on the news.

Thanks for all the good wishes - have placed our offer (but appears agent had got ahead of himself last week and it is not sealed bids yet, they indicted that last week two offers were rejected) I have played up the fact that we can move quickly and are not in a chain - just hope its enough to secure it. Have made an offer I feel is fair for the property considering the work needed, my dad reckons both other offers will be developers and they will have both offered well less than us as they will need to turn a prfit after doing the work, so heres hoping.

ChocClare

Fingers crossed for you, kidcat - you are probably right about the developers so here's hoping

schoolhouse

We have had to look at pensions and wills with buying a place recently(sell not gone through yet and looking shaky:(). This house buying malarky is well stressy. I have found this thread to have a very calming influence. Wish this house buying business was over and done with,seem to be baking more and eating more:o. Why can I not be one of them who loses their appetite when anxious/stressed? I just eat and eat and eat...

Not sure who was asking about raspberries in pots,just to say ours are in pots and have produced beautifully these last two years. Can see little buds on the canes at the mo. Hoping to do blackberries and blueberries this year.

Congratulatons to Bertibots:T.

ceridwen

ChocClare wrote: »

Fingers crossed for you, kidcat - you are probably right about the developers so here's hoping

Yep..second lot of fingers crossed hereabouts....and hoping we get to break out the virtual champagne later...

rachbc

I think your arguement is the wrong way round Ceridwen - its not that the state take peoples houses to pay for care - you have to pay for your own care - if you have asset you can sell you can afford to pay for any care you might need, if a person cannot afford care for whatever reason (and very often not because they have spent it all on wine) then the state steps in and pays. I own my home, my parents own their home, it seems fair enough to me, and my parents being the socially conscious types haven't had some clever IFA set up things so they can get out of their responsibilities should they need care. However they do both having living wills and a joint agreement that should things come to it the a trip to Switzerland would be their preferred option!!

[Deleted User]

I am baby boomer age and me and dh are on the side that worked hard and were frugal so that we own our own home, have no debts and have a bit in savings. Our 3 children have all got married and own their own homes. I don`t see why the heck we shouldn`t pay for our own care if we need it. I don`t want younger people to be saddled with bills for us, they have enough trouble surviving as it is. I have met several people our age who have deliberately spent their money on flash cars and exotic holidays, so that the state would end up funding them. I`m not like that eg when I retired early from teaching I got a much reduced pension but I had colleagues who suddenly learnt how to cry and have breakdowns and who retired on full enhancement so get loads more then me. I have met them since and all had miraculous recoveries. I am holding my head up high

anyway if needed then we would be able to choose the nicest care home