Dad going into care, worried about mum's financial position

Sues48

My dad was admitted to hospital 4 weeks ago, and it has become increasingly obvious that his health has deteriorated to the point that my mum can no longer cope with him at home. She has made the difficult decision to allow him to be discharged from hospital into residential care. She isn't really thinking of the financial consequences as she is still too busy beating herself up about whether she has made the right decision I however, am concerned that she is going to struggle financially on her own.

My parents jointly own their home but several years ago they took out some sort of equity release to raise funds for home improvements and generally give them a better standard of living. My dad receives a state pension of around £130 pw plus higher rate Attendance Allowance, which is due to stop shortly because of his hospital stay, and a private pension of around £50.00 pw. Mum receives a reduced state pension of around £65.00pw plus a small occupational pension in the region of £15.00pw. They have saving of less than £23,000, some are jointly held and some are in mum's name only. Included in this savings figure is a couple of ISAs which pay them a small monthly income which varies dependent on the performance of the stock market.

Will Social services take all my dad's income into account, or will my mum be able to keep some of it? Presumably if her income is low enough she will be able to claim Pension Credit? Also, if at some point in the future mum decides to sell the family home and move to somewhere smaller and more manageable will Social Services want 50% of the sale proceeds immediately to fund dad's care? If this is the case then this option wouldn't be viable as there wouldn't be enough money left in the pot for mum to purchase another property?

Sorry for the length of this post but I want to be sure of my facts in advance of the financial assessment with Social Services.

pollypenny

The only point I can answer is that your dad should still have the Attendance Allowance in a home.

It's a worrying time for you mum, all sympathy to you.

I'm sure someone will post a link for you about other aspects.

clemmatis

I advise you to talk to AgeUK about it

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

sleepless_saver

Sues48 wrote: »

My parents jointly own their home but several years ago they took out some sort of equity release to raise funds for home improvements and generally give them a better standard of living. ...

Will Social services take all my dad's income into account, or will my mum be able to keep some of it? Presumably if her income is low enough she will be able to claim Pension Credit?

Social services will take his income into account. Your mum will be able to keep half his private pension. She can claim pension credit - she can work out what she might be entitled to with a benefit checker. Remember not to include your father's share of the joint savings in the calculation.

And she should claim 25% discount for council tax as someone living alone (she may also get council tax benefit if income low enough).

Have a look at the Age UK factsheet on paying for care when you have a partner.