parents going into care - house and savings

LHW99

Immediate care needs plans are worth considering. They are expensive, but there can be options to have something returned to the estate should the worst happen only a few months after taking one out, and they do give peace of mind that the income will continue as long as the person lives.

Check the Society of Later Life Advisers (http://societyoflaterlifeadvisers.co.uk/find-an-adviser/) to find someone in your area qualified to tell you about the options.

chris_m

LindaJane47 wrote: »

and of course the house will have to be sold.

Could the house not be rented out to supplement their income?
That's what we did when Dad had to go into a home - the rent covered the shortfall between his pensions and the care home fees.

Generali

LindaJane47 wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum, but..... my parents both have alzheimers and my mum in particular isn't really safe at home any more.

We are going to have to tackle the situation sooner rather than later....... which I am dreading

ok, so they own a house, and have savings and shares - probably about 500k in all. Their income is probably around 15k a year altogether.

I'm assuming they will have to pay for their care if/when they have to go into a care home, but would any funding be forthcoming? is there anything else we can do?

Hope someone can give me some advice.

Linda

Speak to your local Alzheimer's Society person:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents.php?categoryID=200121

My Dad had Alzheimer's and they were excellent.

IME, the quality of care tends to be either very good or very bad and that has little to do with cost. Dad was treated as a patient so the NHS paid and ended his days in a very nice specialist Alzheimer's home.

The place was absolute chaos as you can imagine with perhaps 50 Alzheimer's patients all in one place and you'd rarely know which bed any patient would be lying in but everyone including Dad seemed very cheerful.

Mojisola

chris_m wrote: »

Could the house not be rented out to supplement their income?
That's what we did when Dad had to go into a home - the rent covered the shortfall between his pensions and the care home fees.

Attendance Allowance isn't means tested and self-funding care home residents can claim it - every little helps.

crystaltipsy

HI LindaJane - just going through the same process with my mum who lives alone currently and was diagnosed in January with Alzheimers.
You can process power of attorney following diagnosis - we did this and it went through smoothly - they just ask for an independent witness to verify that you are who you state you are and that power of attorney is the correct path for your parents - a friend of my mum's fulfilled this role.
You can then use the POA to apply for attendance allowance on their behalf and also to get council tax exemption.
Hope this helps

missbiggles1

crystaltipsy wrote: »

HI LindaJane - just going through the same process with my mum who lives alone currently and was diagnosed in January with Alzheimers.
You can process power of attorney following diagnosis - we did this and it went through smoothly - they just ask for an independent witness to verify that you are who you state you are and that power of attorney is the correct path for your parents - a friend of my mum's fulfilled this role.
You can then use the POA to apply for attendance allowance on their behalf and also to get council tax exemption.
Hope this helps

You don't need POA to apply for AA on behalf of somebody else.