Possible Care Home looming, will the house be counted?

jennifernil

I have a young-ish friend who needs some advice, hopefully someone can help, or point me in the right direction to find the answer.

My friend and her partner are 45 years old and live in England. 10 years ago she sold her home, her parents sold their home, and the 4 of them purchased a 6 apartment house to share.

Her parents use the main living room, and have the dining room as their bedroom. There is a downstairs wet room for them to use, and a kitchen and a conservatory.

My friend and her partner use the 4 bedrooms upstairs as a lounge, dining room/guest room, study and bedroom. They work from home 1-2 days per week.

They are all on the deeds, the parents share of the house is set at the equity they contributed, my friend and her partner own the rest equally and they pay the mortgage. Her parents contribute to costs such as gas, electricity, council tax, insurance, repairs and food.

They have only State Pensions and a very small amount of savings. Mum is in her mid 80s, had a stroke just over 10 years back and cannot do much for herself. Dad is almost 90, has very poor balance, possibly the onset of Alzheimers . Both are diabetic.

My friend now works 2 days per week and claims Carers Allowance, her partner works full time.


Recently the situation at home has deteriorated and my friend is nearing breaking point. She has been promised 2 weeks respite care for her parents, the first time she has managed to get any, but is now also considering whether she can continue to care for them much longer.

She is worried about whether the house would have to be sold and her parents share of it used to fund their care, meaning she and her partner will need to find and buy a new property.

And if so, what time they will be allowed to get this sorted out?

PennyForThem_2

I don't think anyone will be qualified to answer this - am I right in assuming you all are on the title deeds either as joint tenants or tenants in common?

I suspect that if your parents need care the home will not figure but you really need to get expert advice. Age UK may give an indicator.

missbiggles1

Have they both looked at claiming Attendance Allowance?

Savvy_Sue

It doesn't sound as if it's more money that's needed, it's more support.

http://www.eac.org.uk/ is another good source of expert advice. Having said that, I don't see how sale of the house can be forced: it's not just your parents' home.

Because the arrangement started 10 years ago, it doesn't look like it was done to avoid paying for care home fees, which is good.

missbiggles1

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

It doesn't sound as if it's more money that's needed, it's more support.

http://www.eac.org.uk/ is another good source of expert advice. Having said that, I don't see how sale of the house can be forced: it's not just your parents' home.

Because the arrangement started 10 years ago, it doesn't look like it was done to avoid paying for care home fees, which is good.

If you have money, you can buy support.:)

jennifernil

I believe the parents already get attendance allowance, and there are twice daily visits by carers to shower/dress/undress Mum.

However, the carers frequently do not turn up, sometimes with notice, other times without saying anything.

Not sure how the house is owned, just know they are all on the deeds.

missbiggles1

jennifernil wrote: »

I believe the parents already get attendance allowance, and there are twice daily visits by carers to shower/dress/undress Mum.

However, the carers frequently do not turn up, sometimes with notice, other times without saying anything.

Not sure how the house is owned, just know they are all on the deeds.

Then it might've been better if you hadn't said "They have only State Pensions and a very small amount of savings. " It's hard for people to give proper advice if inaccurate information is given.

Who is responsible for providing the carers and what happens when they don't turn up?

ETA
Sorry this came over a bit more terse than I intended.

Mojisola

jennifernil wrote: »

I believe the parents already get attendance allowance, and there are twice daily visits by carers to shower/dress/undress Mum.

However, the carers frequently do not turn up, sometimes with notice, other times without saying anything.

Suggest they find a different company to provide carers!

I found a smaller company for Mum and Dad - the customer service was much better than that provided by the big contractors.

pmlindyloo

Have a read of 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

Main points in your friend's favour as regards not having to sell the house.

1. The capital in the property would not be used in the assessment if only one parent needed to go into care.
2. Since your friend has been the main carer the value may also be disregarded.
3. The actual value of the house would be hard to determine as there is likely to be no market value where not all owners of the property are prepared to sell up.

BUT, none of this is guaranteed, just possible. If things are getting to the stage of one or both of the parents needing residential care then a full assessment of their finances would be done by social services.

jennifernil

Thanks everyone , I will pass on all the links.

They have had a lot of problems with the care company, which was originally sorted by social services, but they have recently changed the evening care to a smaller concern, and are soon to get them for the mornings too.
Hopefully they will be more reliable.

teddysmum

It is a rather complicated situation.


Normally, as has been said, if one of a couple goes into care the house is not counted, but is if both go into care.


The shared ownership is the problem, but nowadays, as finance is very tight, would a council be willing to fully fund two people while giving away a valuable asset (possibly half a property) to the younger couple ? Could they, perhaps, claim a share of the property and charge the younger couple rent on that part ?