Signing house over to children before care

EdInvestor

I suspect that most people have been using this type of care immediately before moving to a home.The move seems to arise when people require care ( or supervision in the case of dementia) on a 24-hour basis.Two full time carers at home is not cost effective.

Many people will be in their late 80s or 90s at this point and an annuity of 50k -60k will probably top up pensions and allowances adequately for many to self fund without wiping out houses/inheritances or even having the council involved.

Trouble is many families hear that people often for only 3 years or so in the care home, and decide to "take a punt" with the oldie's capital, investing it, or putting it in the bank, rather than buying an annuity.Guess what, the oldie lives on, and on, and before long they run out of money - and inheritance...

seven-day-weekend

Excellent idea Missile, I'll tell our son to do that if/when our time comes.

Our house in the UK has a downstairs bathroom. I knew it would come in handy one day!

EdInvestor

http://www.carestandards.org.uk/


People might like to check out this website.It has loads of info about care homes searchable by postcode, includes prices and extensive reports by their inspectors (who do "mystery shopping" spot checks) on facilities, staffing, etc.

missile

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Excellent idea Missile, I'll tell our son to do that if/when our time comes.

Be nice to your kids.............. they choose your care home :rolleyes:

suzyq

I have used live in carers provided by an agency, the costs were £568 per week, there was also an admin/introduction fee of £70 plus VAT as the agency paid the carers. This is not such a good option as you still have to provide the carers with board and lodging and they dont care how much gas and electric they use, and I found that the majority just wanted to come and sit down with their feet up and watch TV until changeover day a week later. If you employ carers yourself you must consider all the employment legislation which you have to comply with, sick pay, maternity pay, working times directive, minimun wage, if you employ someone you find unsuitable you cannot just get rid of them as they can sue for unfair dismissal, there is also tax and National Insurance. My father is now in a nursing home , it is not perfect but I have just got to accept that it is the best out of the twenty odd which I viewed. The costs there are £540 plus the NHS pays £40 contribution towards his nursing needs. I am at present selling his house to pay fees as I have almost used up all his hard earned savings. All I can say is think carefully before you do anything.

missile

It is never easy to find good staff (or reliable tradesmen :rolleyes: ).

RAS quoted £2400 per month and suzyq £540 + £40 (per week?) for a care home. For circa £120K per year and free accomodation it would not be difficult to recruit suitable competent staff. Ideally I would be looking for a retired couple to live in and I would not be using an agent.

PS: Under current legislation, employees with less than 2 years service have no recourse to a tribunal, an employer does not even need to give a reason for termination.

suzyq

Image the scenario employing a retired couple to look after someone with Dementia who is physically and verbally aggressive, who refuses to get out of bed and is doubly incontinent, and refuses to eat and take medication, and who is also up most of the night. I know that this may seem rather extreeme but this is what I had to deal with, it is happening far more frequently now that we have an increasing elderly population. And yes I know this doesn't apply to the majority of elderly people thank goodness
Lots of useful information on this website about Direct Payments and Care, for people who may be thinking of employing carers
http://www.ncil.org.uk/bb/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=10 (Ignore the first few posts as sadly spammers have been at work)

missile

Fortunately I don't have those problems, it must be heartbreaking when a loved one has dimentia. I guess it may have been difficult to find a care home willing to take your father?

However, I would still suggest it would be possible to recruit suitable competent people to care for such a person in their own home for 120K per annum.

My idea may not be appropriate for you or even the majority of people. I posted it as an alternative for discussion.

RAS

Hi

Please can we re-do the maths, missile?

The prices suzy and I quote are £28-30,000 per year, not £120K.

Minimum wage is £5.15 per hour which is £45K per year for 24/7 care. You can deduct an amount for accomodation, but not enough to make the sums work, and you need a home big enough to offer a separate sitting room and bedroom, preferably ensuite, for the carers.

For those with space and not needing a lot of care there is a charity that matches young people needing accomodation with older folk who are a bit frail and need no more than 15 hours a week support. Will try to find it.

missile

You can do your own arithmetic. :rolleyes:

I would suggest full time nursing care 24/7 will be closer to my estimate of £120K than your £45K