Elderly parents living in poverty

ZsaZsa

I hope you have a bit of a plan now OP, I think you've had a bit of a rough ride here.
I can fully sympathise. I have an elderly relative who could be comfortable but is desperately terrified of spending money. He chooses not to heat his home properly, he doesn't eat well, because he might "need" his money at a later date. He's already very elderly, and I'm sure he's shortened his final years by not looking after himself properly, but "tough love" won't achieve anything. We love him and want to look after him, but we can't force him to spend his savings.

Cheeky_Monkey

Hoonay wrote: »

Hello,
What can they do? Can the savings be gifted to another trust worthy family member who gives them access to it? So they can then qualify for more benefits?

Their council tax alone is £214 per month - they just don't have that money.

To all those complaining about the 'harsh' treatment the OP has received, please read the above quoted from their original post.

I have highlighted the parts I have been taking issue with.

The OP is asking for advice on how her parents can 'hide' their money (whilst still having access to it) in order for them to get more benefits and the second is blatantly not true and IMO added to invoke misplaced sympathy.

If they didn't have any money that would be different but they've got £40,000 for goodness sake.

taktikback

OP clearly isn't being rational...that happens when your parents lose the plot -believe me

I suspect they are now getting the message. Yes the advice they have been getting is hopeless and yes - clearly claiming benefits in these circumstances is fraud - but they know that now - so maybe a little compassion wouldn't be amiss...

System

le_loup wrote: »

What if they had a million pounds in cash and NO income, would that too make them asset rich and income poor in the sense that they were in poverty?

Poverty is a meaningless concept in the UK context.
Hence the more useful description, fitting one particular real-life situation, of asset-rich/income-poor.

margaretclare

I don't think I have been harsh. I do tend to tell it as it is - we Yorkshire folk are famous for that. I know about poverty. I know about saving, I know about being 80 years old and I know about the psychology of selective hearing i.e. what the 'nurse' said to the parents. From the perspective of what I know about, I commented.

silverwhistle

taktikback wrote: »

I suspect they are now getting the message. Yes the advice they have been getting is hopeless and yes - clearly claiming benefits in these circumstances is fraud - but they know that now - so maybe a little compassion wouldn't be amiss...

I'm sure they are now! I think people tend to get a bit weary of the lack of commonsense [the "do I have to pay tax on cash-in-hand jobs?" type questions] and then the defensive responses. We _still_ don't know if they are receiving any pension although the OP has been asked quite a few times and given good information on the matter.

I've no idea what will happen in this case, but often posters don't return to say what happened, or thanks for the advice, and it's always nice to see when they do. It's a common courtesy, even if we've all felt a bit foolish at times about our ignorance on a particular matter.

leedsfan757

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

To all those complaining about the 'harsh' treatment the OP has received, please read the above quoted from their original post.

I have highlighted the parts I have been taking issue with.

The OP is asking for advice on how her parents can 'hide' their money (whilst still having access to it) in order for them to get more benefits and the second is blatantly not true and IMO added to invoke misplaced sympathy.

If they didn't have any money that would be different but they've got £40,000 for goodness sake.

Absolutely spot on.

Nobody is trying to be harsh here, just encouraging the OP to get real and avoid being a potential party to fraud.

seven-day-weekend

To the OP:

1. The parent who does not have a State Pension may be entitled to one, please find out and help them apply if necessary.

2. If you can't persuade them to spend their money on keeping themselves warm and healthy, then that is their choice and there is no more you can do. I get a bit annoyed, I must admit, when someone has tens of £000s in savings and still 'wraps themselves in newspaper to keep warm' - that's not poverty, it's stinginess. I have known a few people like it and found it hard to feel any sympathy.

Anyway, I hope you get it sorted.

xylophone

You may believe me when I say that I could write a text book on the awkwardness (not to say cussedness) of some elderly people.

I also perfectly understand the ingrained frugality of those who lived through the last war.

However, compassion does not prevent my saying that the OP needs to get a grip on the facts of her parents' financial situation, to clarify their misunderstandings, to check on whether one parent has not claimed the pension to which he/she is entitled and to find out about Attendance Allowance if appropriate?

atush

that is the crux of the matter, the parent not claiming a SP in the misunderstanding they dont get one. Because under the current rules they do. And it has been deferred for almost 2 decades so will be over 2x the initial amt they could have claimed all that time ago. So their income problems would disappear overnight.

Then all the OP has to do is get them to spend it lol