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Paying a relative as Power of Attorney for care of relative
Comments
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If he earns over £100 a week, he won't be able to claim CA.
How does CA differ from Attendance Allowance?"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »How does CA differ from Attendance Allowance?
Attendance Allowance is claimed by the person who needs care.
Carer's Allowance is claimed by the person caring for the person claiming AA.0 -
I think that the OP might well be on shaky ground.
The brother did not have to give up his job and income to care for his mother - if he wished to have her live with him, a professional carer could have been employed and paid for out of mother's money while he was at work.
I very much doubt that the salary paid to such a carer would have been
- I am acquainted with the fees charged for such a home - £850 a week exclusive of extras.the cost of a good privately run care home
The mother should be expected to pay half the cost of all household bills plus the full cost of any extras required for her personal needs - she should also pay for respite care needed when the son takes his two week annual holiday, and for the cost of a carer if the son has to go out for any reason.
It might also be reasonable for a sum representing "pocket money" to be paid to the brother, the same amount as CA perhaps.
If it were to be decided that the mother should employ the son, then tax and national insurance would come into play, much as if a nanny were being employed?
Other thoughts - suppose mother's money runs out? Presumably means tested benefits/ a council care home would be required. In such circumstances there would definitely be enquiries made as to exactly how mother's money had been spent and whether there had been deliberate deprivation of capital?0 -
I think that the OP might well be on shaky ground.
The brother did not have to give up his job and income to care for his mother - if he wished to have her live with him, a professional carer could have been employed and paid for out of mother's money while he was at work.
I very much doubt that the salary paid to such a carer would have been
- I am acquainted with the fees charged for such a home - £850 a week exclusive of extras.
the brother, the same amount as CA perhaps.
come into play, much as if a nanny were being employed?
A carer could be as much as £15/20 per hour through an agency or probably £10 per hour (inclusive) plus management time for someone direct.
10 hours a day soon adds up. On top of which, as you mention, running costs, food, transport, special needs, depreciation of assets.
As you point out NI/Tax would need to be considered."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
I think that the OP might well be on shaky ground.
The brother did not have to give up his job and income to care for his mother - if he wished to have her live with him, a professional carer could have been employed and paid for out of mother's money while he was at work.
I very much doubt that the salary paid to such a carer would have been
- I am acquainted with the fees charged for such a home - £850 a week exclusive of extras.
The mother should be expected to pay half the cost of all household bills plus the full cost of any extras required for her personal needs - she should also pay for respite care needed when the son takes his two week annual holiday, and for the cost of a carer if the son has to go out for any reason.
It might also be reasonable for a sum representing "pocket money" to be paid to the brother, the same amount as CA perhaps.
If it were to be decided that the mother should employ the son, then tax and national insurance would come into play, much as if a nanny were being employed?
Other thoughts - suppose mother's money runs out? Presumably means tested benefits/ a council care home would be required. In such circumstances there would definitely be enquiries made as to exactly how mother's money had been spent and whether there had been deliberate deprivation of capital?
Care home costs depend on where you live - my Dad was in a lovely home that charged just under £500.
Another relative has left work in order to be a paid carer for his parents - there's nothing dodgy about it. His parents are much happier having someone they know and trust around all day rather than employing strangers.0 -
Care home costs depend on where you live - my Dad was in a lovely home that charged just under £500.
Another relative has left work in order to be a paid carer for his parents - there's nothing dodgy about it. His parents are much happier having someone they know and trust around all day rather than employing strangers.
Exactly my brother is doing a good job, no he didn't have to give up work, he chose to in order to look after mum. Why is there so much red tape when all I'm doing is putting mum first. If that means paying my brother from her money......surely this is ok as it keeps her out of a care home possibly needed for someone else.
Isn't it best to keep mum with family for her benefit
Im so confused and don't know what yo do for the best !0 -
Another thought
How easy is it to give up my POA role and how can my brother take it over? The stress is getting to me.0 -
Jessica1963 wrote: »Im so confused and don't know what yo do for the best !
I think the best advice is to do what is best for your mother, but keep records of all her expenditure (including things like brother's date of stopping work, old salary compared to outside help costs etc). Then if there are queries in the future you can show that any compensation to your brother was reasonable and appropriate for your mother's circumstances and not excessive.0 -
Jessica1963 wrote: »Another thought
How easy is it to give up my POA role and how can my brother take it over? The stress is getting to me.
Too late for that now.
If your brother was POA for financial reasons, it would be very difficult for him to pay himself out of mother's money.
It shouldn't really be that stressful dealing with her money.
My relative has registered as self-employed and his Dad pays him as he does other people who do work for him. My relative sorts out his own NI and tax.
Get your brother to do a spread sheet of all the household bills, average it out and set up a SO to pay half of those every month. Plan a regular review to check the amount is adequate. He should give you copies of the bills, etc, to keep for your POA records.
Arrange what seems fair to pay him, depending on what he's doing for your mother. It's worth deciding whether he want to be paid £99 a week and continue claiming CA or wants a higher wage and stops claiming CA.
If he hasn't already had one, he should ask for a Carer's Assessment by Social Services. As part of that, there should be an emergency plan set out for what would happen if he should suddenly be unable to care, eg after an accident.
Check that your mother is getting all the benefits she is entitled to.
The transition times can be a bit fraught but once the arrangement settles down, it should run fine.
I found that careful record keeping was a god-send. If anyone has any reason to question your management, having everything on paper and in good order makes life much easier.
When Dad had to go into care and the financial assessor came to go through his accounts, she was so pleased to be handed a good set of accounts and paper records of bank accounts, etc. She said that their job is being made much more difficult because people are using on-line banking more and don't print out information and others shred everything because of worries about security.0 -
As a power of attorney your duty is to ensure your mother's care is appropriate for her condition and to manage her finances. The arrangement with the brother appears to meet that duty so your involvement will be to agree an APPROPRIATE amount for her care and to ensure accurate records are kept.
The question of tax and NI is not a matter for you; that is for your brother to deal with as looking after your mother is in effect his job. It is far better that you retain your role as POA as that enables you to ensure that your mother is receiving the most appropriate care and better for your brother as that ensures complete transparency in all financial transactions. Once the arrangements are in place the stress will have been removed for you although your brother will undoubtedly have a lot in his role as carer.
As previously mentioned Social Services can be a great source of help as can the various bodies dealing with care for the elderly.Take my advice at your peril.0
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