Caring For Mum.....Financial Implications

Mustbeananswer??

Mum has been poorly for a while now....shes 84

I live 120 miles from Mum but have a Brother and Sister who live in the viscinity of Mum.

I am about to take a bigger share in the caring situation for Mum by travelling and staying for half of the weeks.I suspect by the end of summer we may have to place Mum in a warden controlled arrangement at least.She is as fiercely independent as her condition allows.

This arrangement will bring some financial burden to me and I am already getting fairly hard pressed.12 years ago my Sister had the foresight to have the house placed in our names so I have a third share in a property with a notional value of £300,000..there is no mortgage outstanding on it.

Is there a way other than equity release that I could use that third share to either improve my credit rating or raise some cash flow to enable me to make this transition comfortably.Interested in your thoughts.....

monty-doggy

You shouldn't have to use what will be your inheritance to fund this while the others don't. Plus I wouldn't be remortgaging your mums home in case anything went wrong. Do you claim carers allowance? Is your mum claiming PIP and mobility benefits? These could be used to help her care needs.

good_advice

Sounds like you have to budget more carefully. Taking money out of someones home to improve your credit rating = Really?

Have your mum to stay for 2 weeks at a time. Put a going home date at the beginning.

Phone often. Just so she has someone to talk to.

This is .....well what can I say? All your childhood years, your mum loved you and did not charge you a bean. Now in her later life she needs a little help you want expenses paid.

Annisele

Has your Mum contacted her local council for a social care assessment? (More details from Age Concern here).

For you, are the financial implications just travelling costs, or will you also be going part time at work? If the latter, be very sure that your bosses agree this is just a temporary arrangement.

You may be able to claim carer's allowance of £61.35 a week - details here.

Good advice - I think your point, but if OP can't afford it they can't afford it.

Errata

There are vanishingly few 'warden controlled' properties nowadays, you'll be lucky to find one and even if you do that support could permanently stop next week.

troubleinparadise

Does your mum have enough funds to support herself? Whilst it may seem a clever move to transfer a property to someone else's ownership to "protect" it, it could have been a way for her to sell and move to another more suitable property plus possibly some capital left over to make these later years easier.

You would be hard put to access funds from your third share without involving both of your siblings, plus mum living there would equally make it even less likely from a lenders point of view.

Look into what funding your mum could be given in terms of attendance allowance etc, and talk to Adult Social Services in her area about what they might be able to offer her in terms of support.

littlejaffa

It's a fine line in what you want compensating for, what if your siblings want to claim their travel or phone calls to your mum, for any food they take her etc.
While other posts are right in checking out carers allowance and PIP etc, a social care assessment is the best way ahead for that.

I really would suggest you speak to your family about what you'd be looking for and see what they think is reasonable

tyllwyd

Just as an aside, when you are thinking about the money that you might eventually receive when the house is sold, remember that if the house was not your main home, there will probably be some capital gains tax to be paid.

Spirit_2

More than the extra costs of caring for your mum whilst she is at home, have you talked about how you will fund your mum's care needs if they increase? Did your sister have the foresight to build in a plan for this?

If she does not have any assets or income sufficient to cover extra costs what will you do for her if the state provision for nursing home care is not up to the standard you/she would like her to have?

A friends mother has recently died, she had no assets (had lived in tied accommodation) and as the costs of her/their choice of nursing home was greater than state provision the siblings each bore a share of the cost. In their case costs increased substantially due to her increased needs, and at that point adult grandchildren also contributed each month so that she continued to live there.

Poppy9

have you thought about paying for a carer to live in with your mother. She could keep her independence but still have the security of help.

A friend of mine who works full time lived in as a carer for an elderly gentleman. She had rent free accommodation and but no wage for looking after him in the evening and overnight. She was friends with the gentlemen as they lived near by and was always looking out for him, doing odd bit of shopping when his family approached her. As she was renting it saved her over £500 a month. The only downside for her was when he passed away his family gave her a weeks notice to move out as they wanted to sell up!