Residential care. What happens after death?

woter324

Hi,

As my parent's home exceeds the£23,250 means tested limit of residential care support and we never did anygifting, trusts etc, the family home will be sold to raise money for their carehome.

[*]Is it always possible to arrange to deferre payment until their deaths or is this for the council to decide?
[*]Do the proceeds go into a bank account controlled by my parents / us and we pay the care home / council on a monthly basis?
[*]Is there anything to stop us retaining the family home, rent it out and use the rent to cover the care home costs?
I assume we do not have to hand over their whole estate to the council when they go into a home.

I presume, after their death,anything left in the bank account is "collected" by the executor oftheir will, IHT etc paid and the remainder is distributed to the beneficiariesof the will.

Many thanks

W.

atush

First of all, are you happy with the cheapest council funded home Second, Do you think rent would meet the costs of the care home?

How much is the weekly cost? Some are more than 1000 a week? How much per month do they get in state and other pensions and income?

I have heard of there being cases where they will attach the home, but not sure if that will work in your case (as it does if someone in the family is living there).

I would ask this on t he benefits forum perhaps

BobQ

Are your parents competent to make their own decisions? Do you have authority to make such decisions for your parents?

If one of your parents needs to go to a care home and they jointly own the house the house is disregarded in the calculation of the income of the parent needing care. Once both need care the situation is more complex.

If this happens, say your parents are content to live in the cheapest care home the council can find. Are you? Say this costs £600 per week each which is quite conservative.

Is your parent's house a mansion that will generate £5000 per month? Or do they have more income to cover those costs? If not are you willing to fund the difference? And the cost of keeping the house (Council Tax, insurance, utilities etc.)?

Unless you can generate that kind of income from assets, income or gifts, then your parents need to sell the house if they both need care. If parents choose not to sell. then the house will have a charge put on it by the Local Authority until it is used and they have the power to force a sale. The family could buy the house from your parents at a market rate and then parents would have funds to pay both of their care home fees.

If the house is sold the proceeds belong to the owner or owners. If this is your parents jointly then they will be expected to use the funds and will have to decide who they trust to do so.

Look on the Age Concern website and you will get some useful information leaflets about this.

greenglide

BobQ wrote: »

If this happens, say your parents are content to live in the cheapest care home the council can find. Are you? Say this costs £600 per week each which is quite conservative.

Technically it is totally up to the customer to choose a care home and then the council will negotiate a rate with them if they do not have an agreement with them. The customer can pay the difference if they have access to the money within the council assessment.

Note that care home fees are negotiable. My mother in law is in a care home with a deferred payment plan. The fees are £476 per week - the council's standard rate. My mother recently entered the same home on a self funding basis and the home quoted £720 per week. When I queried the difference they said we could have the lower rate. If you don't ask .......

I find the disparaging comments made about care homes in this forum are a bit insulting. We visited several homes around us and chose the one that we liked, the council funded it. Of course not living in the south east makes a difference - you could always send them up here, the council would still have to fund it.

atush

The disparaging comments on the very cheapest homes are factual in many cases.

As long as you are happy, go for it. And yes, with the cost of both property and wages being lower in the north, the cost would be lower.

But we can't just ship the elderly north, as I assume family want to be near enough to visit?

xylophone

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/care-homes/

TableTop

Dear W, in the last couple of years I have gone through this process, so I can tell you what happened in my Mum's case. She was a widow, and I had Power of Attorney.


Q1. Is it always possible to arrange to deferre payment until their deaths or is this for the council to decide? WE DIDNT DO THIS SO I HAVE NO INSIGHT.
Q2. Do the proceeds go into a bank account controlled by my parents / us and we pay the care home / council on a monthly basis? YES - PAY CARE HOME DIRECTLY. SELF-FUNDING, SO NO COUNCIL INVOLVEMENT AT ALL.
Q3. Is there anything to stop us retaining the family home, rent it out and use the rent to cover the care home costs? I GUESS YOU CAN DO THIS, AS ITS FAMILY PROPERTY, BUT IT IS UNLIKELY THAT THE RENTAL WOULD COVER THE CARE HOME FEES.
Q4. I assume we do not have to hand over their whole estate to the council when they go into a home. NO. COUNCIL NOT INVOLVED IF YOU ARE SELF-FUNDING.
Q5. I presume, after their death,anything left in the bank account is "collected" by the executor oftheir will, IHT etc paid and the remainder is distributed to the beneficiariesof the will. YES.

~A few more comments:
Nursing homes cost more than care homes. Good nursing homes cost a lot (around £1,000 a week). If you compare that to what you would pay for equivalent 24 hr/day services in a hotel, then I think they are reasonable value for money.
If you need a nursing home, you can usually get help with the nursing component of the fee - the PCT pay £108 per week direct to the nursing home. Make sure you apply for the maximum Attendance Allowance too.
If we knew how long we have to live then planning would be easier, but we don't. I had several years worth of fees available in reasonably liquid assets, but only spent 15 months, I wish it had been more.