Care Home fees and savings - a slightly different query than usual

Biggles

schocca wrote: »

That only works if the FIL wants to do the Care Annuity -> I've already discussed this with him and the answer is NO.

What's his objection to the care annuity? Immediate forfeiture of a sum of cash? If he thinks about it for a bit, that's a great deal better than completely running out of cash and being moved to a council home you don't like, which is potentially the alternative.

dzug1

Regardless of who buys the care needs annuity, it will need his cooperation. The providers will require a full medical report on him which cannot be obtained without either deceiving him as to its purpose or his full consent

The cost of same will be roughly equivalent to annual payment times life expectancy (as worked out from the medical and actuarial tables) plus a profit for the company

schocca

Biggles wrote: »

What's his objection to the care annuity? Immediate forfeiture of a sum of cash? If he thinks about it for a bit, that's a great deal better than completely running out of cash and being moved to a council home you don't like, which is potentially the alternative.

It's the forfeiture of cash and that he does not think that he has much time left in this world (he's in his 70s, but his physical health has been poorly), so does not want to "waste the money".

I think the care annuity is a good idea in measured dosages and if suitable. For him, he has a lot of things going for him (in regards to the care annuity):
a) he smokes.
b) had a few TIAs some years ago.
c) had a major heart attack earlier on in his life.

All these should contribute to him gaining a higher annuity payment. Also, sitting down with the calculator, I think he would only need to spend 30% of his capital on this to extend the remaining capital to a lifetime of 20+ years.

In some respects, he says no as he cannot be bothered with the hassle.
- Please note - his no is not a "NO (shout)", but a "nah (I cannot be bothered)". The emphasis is mine as I was being clear in an earlier post - one of the downsides in regards to forum posting vs the spoken word...

But still, nah is no.

Anyway, I'm off to take him out for a pint before tea, the weather is nice and we can sit outside and he can have a smoke.

pmlindyloo

I don't know about your FIL but my mother (who is in a nursing home) has no idea about how care home fees work. That's not because she has dementia, but because she does not understand about deprivation of capital.

I think many people dislike the idea of their capital/savings being used to fund a care home but whether we like it or not there is very little that can be done unless you put something into place before you enter a care home.

The truth is that what you are proposing could work. As others have said this is dependent on your personal circumstances not changing etc etc.

The problem is that you are taking a big risk.

If everything goes 'belly up' and the care home fees could not be paid and you were forced to ask Social Services to pay the fees then there would be an investigation. Your FIL's bank statements would be looked at and they would want to know what happened to his capital/savings.

I do not want to frighten you but Social Services are like a 'dog with a bone'. You could find yourself in big trouble. Your FIL could be accused of Deprivation of Capital and you would be complicit to that.

In my opinion you have 3 options

1. Take the risk
2. Use his savings to pay the care home fees until he gets below the threshold where Social services start to contribute.
3. Explain the deprivation rules to FIL and see if he is more enanmoured with the Annuity idea.

Hope he enjoys his pint and ciggie!

Biggles

schocca wrote: »

I think the care annuity is a good idea in measured dosages and if suitable. For him, he has a lot of things going for him (in regards to the care annuity):
a) he smokes.
b) had a few TIAs some years ago.
c) had a major heart attack earlier on in his life.

All that *should* mean quite a low lump sum to fund his lifetime care. It could be worth asking what the figures actually are, as they vary enormously from one company to another (even tho they must use the same medical report), my mother paid half what the highest company was quoting.