Avoiding nursing home costs

withabix

martindow wrote: »

OP, sorry to hear of your situation.

Playing devil's advocate here, but wouldn't changing the ownership to tenants in common and writing a new will just a few weeks before one of the couple dies constitute deprivation of assets? These actions are clearly designed to protect the value of the house. Won't the LA take a long and critical look at this if care fees were to become payable in the future?

All perfectly legal and above board. Besides, anyone could die tomorrow - what happens if they only wrote their Will today or set up Tenants in Common yesterday. Is that any different?

The OP's father could die tomorrow or in ten years. So could you!


All being well there will be a £35000 lifetime cap on care costs in the next couple of years.

It isn't fair that people who have saved money over their lifetime should have to pay for their care in old age when those who have p*ssed it up the wall or sat on their !!!!!! and lived off the State all their lives get theirs paid for.

wymondham

This has got me thinking ....... could i sign over my house to my son when he's 18 (assume this is the earliest permissable?)... hopefully i'd have 20 years before i go downhill ... would this still be deprivation of assets??

ash28

wymondham wrote: »

This has got me thinking ....... could i sign over my house to my son when he's 18 (assume this is the earliest permissable?)... hopefully i'd have 20 years before i go downhill ... would this still be deprivation of assets??

Probably not, but why would you want to do that?

What if your son married and then divorced, half of your house (in his name) would belong to his wife and what if she forced a sale...... what if you and your son fell out..... you could end up homeless.

A legal minefield.

Fire_Fox

Run an advanced search, there are so many threads on this already. Why wouldn't you want your parents to have the best care money can buy in their last few years?

noelphobic

G_M wrote: »

The best alternative is if your mother is diagnosed with a medical condition requiring full time care (as opposed to 'old age'). Then the NHS may pick up the bill.

Alheimers has recently been classed by the courts as such a condition.

If you are talking about NHS Fully Funded Continuing Health Care then it is not decided purely on the basis of what medical condition/s a person is suffering from. It is far more complicated than that, which is why many people struggle to get it awarded to them.

Many people with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia are paying their own nursing home fees.

phoebe1989seb

G_M wrote: »

The best alternative is if your mother is diagnosed with a medical condition requiring full time care (as opposed to 'old age'). Then the NHS may pick up the bill.

Alheimers has recently been classed by the courts as such a condition.

Interesting.......any chance of a link to this please G_M?

We are in a similar situation although my father isn't terminally ill. He is deteriorating fast though and has until recently been primary carer for my mum with Alzheimers'. They did manage to change their home-ownership to tenants in common and he also changed his will last year so we have been through this. Our family solicitor did the work and didn't charge an extortionate amount - was quite reasonable in fact.

noelphobic

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Run an advanced search, there are so many threads on this already. Why wouldn't you want your parents to have the best care money can buy in their last few years?

My mother paid her own nursing home fees and got exactly the same care as many other residents who didn't have to pay. Obviously I wouldn't want these residents to have had substandard care, but I'm just pointing out that many self-funding people are in exactly the same homes as people who are being funded by the LA.

Fire_Fox

noelphobic wrote: »

My mother paid her own nursing home fees and got exactly the same care as many other residents who didn't have to pay. Obviously I wouldn't want these residents to have had substandard care, but I'm just pointing out that many self-funding people are in exactly the same homes as people who are being funded by the LA.

Some are indeed, those who don't choose to go elsewhere. You can also go into a home at an earlier stage if you can afford to, or have private care in your own home. My grandmother was only in (an absolutely lovely) care home for a few weeks before she passed away, prior to that my mother was fighting for several months for state funding whilst she took up a hospital bed needlessly. I would note that my grandmother was not taking care of herself properly at home, had expressed a desire to go into a care home, was unhappy in hospital yet very happy in the home.

My grandmother got better care in the home than in the hospital because it was homely and the staff were working on the resident's mental wellbeing as well as their physical needs. Money means choice,and choices can mean better quality of care.

pineapple123

NHS Fully Funded Continuing Health Care relates to the Health aspect of care ie: a person who needs specialist care by a trained nurse (not always a registered nurse) ie complex dressing changes, prone to fits, difficulty in swallowing causing a risk of choking, tube feeding etc what it doesnt apply to is individuals who just require basic nursing care like bed bathing, incontience, assisting someone feeding with normal swallow etc as this can be done by carer, even if a person requires a great deal of assistance due to incapacity, however someone who has limited life expectancy ie palliative can be fast tracked to recieve funding for care.

Amber_Sunshine

withabix wrote: »

It isn't fair that people who have saved money over their lifetime should have to pay for their care in old age when those who have p*ssed it up the wall or sat on their !!!!!! and lived off the State all their lives get theirs paid for.

Life isn´t fair. When someone has assets that could fund their care, why should the state (ie taxpayer) pay so that their children can have an inheritance? And I say that as someone whose parent owns a house.