Care home debts after death liability

waynemil

My mum went into a care home after a fall on the stairs, the care home and the social services were supposed to sort mums care fees. She hand no savings and lived in a council house with state pension and pension credit. All money she received was used to pay for things for her room ie new TV, clothes and hair etc. We were told that she would receive money herself when the cost of care was taken from her benefits. We had several problems with the home an d social services, as we presumed money was being taken from her benefits to pay for care. This it seems was not and due to a breakdown of administration the care home are wanting £4000 from me, her son. I have explained to them that mum had £30 in her account when she died which I am happy to give them. My solicitor has wrote the care home solicitor stating mum had £30 in her bank on death and not pursue me as I am not liable. I did not have power of attorney for my mum, the only thing I did was sign a F1 form which gave details to the social services of mums income and assets, in order for the social services to work out who pays what and how much. Add to this the fact that we had an inquest into mums death due to the care homes lack of care, the home had 2 safeguarding alerts placed on it for our mum the second one being put in place by the hospital were she was admitted, with severe malnutrition, dehydration, MSRA and septecimia. The hospital placed the second safeguarding alert on my mum and stated that under no circumstances should she go back to the care home and they subsequently found her a new care home, which she was discharged to but sadly died 3 days later.
Mum was also an hoarder and had to spend £1500 for four men to remove clutter and rubbish from her house, prior to the council taking it back, we also had to pay for pest control due to mice, catalogue debts and utility bills as her home was still in her name for several months after going into the home.

Mojisola

waynemil wrote: »

My mum went into a care home after a fall on the stairs, the care home and the social services were supposed to sort mums care fees.

She had no savings and lived in a council house with state pension and pension credit.

If it's as straightforward as you say then your mother was entitled to have her care home fees paid by the LA. They would have taken all her income bar about £20 which she should have received as pocket money.

If the DWP continued to pay the pension and pension credit into her account, then the LA will want that money.

However, if there isn't any money, no debts can be paid.

carefullycautious

Send the bill back to the care home stating you are not liable for your mothers debts and that they should seek payment from the appropriate bodies.

Job done

Torry_Quine

What should have happened was that a payment to the home was set up to pay her fees which leaves just over £20 per week for personal spending. Did the home never send a letter telling her how much she had to pay? If she was in a home what was she spending the money on? However if there is no money left then the debt dies with her.

getmore4less

You were not responsible for the clearance or any utility bills or debts or rent...

Errata

Tell them to do one and sort it out with the council.

meer53

When my MIL went into a care home, she still received her pension, all but £20 of this was paid to the care home each week. She was also on state pension/pension credit with no assets.

What has happened to your Mums pension OP ? Who was collecting it or managing her bank accounts ?

Jobseeeker

Debts are not passed to the next of kin when someone dies. You will not be held liable for your mother's debts.

Of course, had there been an estate they could have gone after the estate.

cavework

Was it a care home suggested by Adult Social Services within their budget?
If so, they should have advised you about all of this before she was placed and also have been responsible for the bills and also the contributions made by your Mum for her care.. she should have been left with about £20 a week for personal expenditure
Did you sign a form from the care home on admittance ?
I was advised to ignore this part as if you read it carefully it means you as next of kin are responsible for any outstanding debts should the person die. I never signed that part of the agreement.
The council should have paid the bill for clearance of your Mums home .. you were not on the tenancy , so not responsible for the state of the property when vacated as long as you notified them immediately when she went into care and told them she would not be returning. Same applies to the pest control bill..