Paying for care home if you have a partner

onlyroz

Gavin the reason most people going into care are widows is obvious - in most cases people needing care are cared for by their partner until the partner dies (all too often from the stress of providing the care).

As for recommending divorce - this just illustrates that the financial settlement in divorce is fairer than the financial arrangements for care payments.

Mr_Toad

onlyroz wrote: »

Mr Toad that doesn't sound very fair. It seems to me that a 50:50 split of all liquid assets, and then a charge put on 50% of the house would be the fairest thing in these circumstances. It's bizarre that this is one of the few circumstances where a 50:50 split isn't taken as the starting point.

No it isn't fair but social care costs are huge and the system is biased to ensure that it gets the most money it can.

That same system is evolving as people become more aware of the possibility that they may need a care home at some point and take steps to protect the family money.

It will only get worse in future.

One of the latest manifestations of this is that for some people getting into a care home can be almost impossible with Social Services insisting on providing care in the persons own home. This means visits from carers who rush in and out and then you're on your own. They say the elderly prefer it but the real reason is cost. If you have assets they'll have you in a home in no time if you don't.......

Kynthia

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought divorce would be a fairer allocation of assets. FIL has gone into a care home and his pension is being used to fund it. However that pension was always intended to support him and his wife, as they planned it that he would work for an income and pension while she looked after tge children and the home. If they divorced she would get half the private pension yet at the moment I don't believe she's getting any of it. She still has rent and bills to pay but now her income has drastically dropped more than if they divorced or he died.

onlyroz

Kynthia wrote: »

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought divorce would be a fairer allocation of assets. FIL has gone into a care home and his pension is being used to fund it. However that pension was always intended to support him and his wife, as they planned it that he would work for an income and pension while she looked after tge children and the home. If they divorced she would get half the private pension yet at the moment I don't believe she's getting any of it. She still has rent and bills to pay but now her income has drastically dropped more than if they divorced or he died.

From the AgeUK link, this bit suggests that your mother shouldn't be left with nothing:

However, a local authority may ask for details of your partner’s finances on a separate form to ensure they will be left with sufficient resources to live on when you go into a care home.

Mr_Toad

onlyroz wrote: »

From the AgeUK link, this bit suggests that your mother shouldn't be left with nothing:

Unfortunately their idea of enough to live on is not the sme as most people.

Brighton_belle

Kynthia wrote: »

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought divorce would be a fairer allocation of assets. FIL has gone into a care home and his pension is being used to fund it. However that pension was always intended to support him and his wife, as they planned it that he would work for an income and pension while she looked after tge children and the home. If they divorced she would get half the private pension yet at the moment I don't believe she's getting any of it. She still has rent and bills to pay but now her income has drastically dropped more than if they divorced or he died.

Kynthia - 50% of my fathers occupational pension was automatically disregarded when assessing him financially for care home costs, as my mother was still alive and living in the family home.
It was still a drastic drop in income of course, as she had care needs of her own.

Gavin83

onlyroz wrote: »

Gavin the reason most people going into care are widows is obvious - in most cases people needing care are cared for by their partner until the partner dies (all too often from the stress of providing the care).

Pretty much, most people will choose to care for a partner. I also think the lonliness of not having a partner will bring on the effects of dementia much quicker.

I do believe people should pay for their care. However having a partner does create a level of complication and it does need assessing to ensure the non resident partner isn't left too out of pocket.