Elderly parent property advice

barnsleynanna

I posted this on another thread, before finding this forum ... My two elderly parents live some distance from us (about an hour and a half drive). My mother has mild Parkinsons disease, and my father suffers from .. well ... just old age really. Both in their 80's. My question is this.. my husband and I work full time. Husband is 10 years older than me and retires in 2 years. We had planned to sell our mortgage-free home and move to our static caravan during the summer months, and stay with my parents in the winter time. We're aware this may affect their benefits, and can supplement this. My question is... if they become infirm enough to need care, would my husband and I using it as a somewhat permanent residence, albeit for a maximum of 3 months per year plus odd weekends, affect their having to sell the home to pay for care? Any advice would be welcome as we're in a quandary about this. We can't afford to keep our own property AND run a static caravan, and we've no wish to keep our house as we've no family in this area.

g6jns_2

barnsleynanna wrote: »

I posted this on another thread, before finding this forum ... My two elderly parents live some distance from us (about an hour and a half drive). My mother has mild Parkinsons disease, and my father suffers from .. well ... just old age really. Both in their 80's. My question is this.. my husband and I work full time. Husband is 10 years older than me and retires in 2 years. We had planned to sell our mortgage-free home and move to our static caravan during the summer months, and stay with my parents in the winter time. We're aware this may affect their benefits, and can supplement this. My question is... if they become infirm enough to need care, would my husband and I using it as a somewhat permanent residence, albeit for a maximum of 3 months per year plus odd weekends, affect their having to sell the home to pay for care? Any advice would be welcome as we're in a quandary about this. We can't afford to keep our own property AND run a static caravan, and we've no wish to keep our house as we've no family in this area.

The rules are complex and not all councils apply them properly. If you were to establish their home as a permanent residence then it would not be sold to pay care fees but a charge might be put on it. You really need to get some professional advice.

Errata

Look up Deprivation of Assets.

pmlindyloo

Since you are only living there for 3 months of the year then it is very unlikely that it would be treated as your permanent residence and therefore if both your parents needed permanent care then the property would have to be sold.

This does not occur if only one parent needs care and the other is still living there.

And, also it depends on whether your parents have made provision in their wills to place the property in trust for any beneficiaries.

There are all kinds of different scenarios possible.

e.g. If one parent moved into care you could move into your parents home on a permanent basis and take your holidays less often making it your permanent home.

You could start by reading this:

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Factsheets/FS38_Treatment_of_property_in_the_means-test_for_permanent_care_home_provision_fcs.pdf?dtrk=true

System

Errata wrote: »

Look up Deprivation of Assets.

Why? The OP or parents are not doing anything with the parents property/monies

barnsleynanna

Thank you all for the links and the advice. Am I correct in assuming that if we did move permanently into my parent's home, and took only smaller holidays, that the council could not force the sale of the home if a surviving parent needed full time care?

g6jns_2

barnsleynanna wrote: »

Thank you all for the links and the advice. Am I correct in assuming that if we did move permanently into my parent's home, and took only smaller holidays, that the council could not force the sale of the home if a surviving parent needed full time care?

Probably not but it would not necessarily prevent a charge being put on the property. As I said before you need professional advice to be sure. Also Age Concern have a number of leaflets on the subject to get you started.

g6jns_2

Errata wrote: »

Look up Deprivation of Assets.

There is no deprivation proposed!

troubleinparadise

It may be that neither parent ever needs residential care.

You could move in with them to act as their carers, with additional help if needed.

Read up on the DOH "Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide"
Section 7 - Treatment of Property:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301250/CRAG_34_April_2014.pdf

bryanb

I did something similar a few years back. The local authority accepted it as my residence on the strength of it being the address on my driving licence and bank account. Good luck.