Both Parents removed to a care home.

kgldsun

I hope this is the correct forum. Sadly both parents owning there own home have had deprivation of liberties imposed and placed in different care homes. ( dementia and cannot be together) I have Power of Attourny. Numerous attempts to keep them at home have failed.
The fees for care homes are double that of Social funded. It's a minefield. Just what do I do.
They have savings of less that 20'000 and I have been advised NOT to sell the house. How will this help the situation?
As I understand, while the house is unsold they pay the government funded price of the care home. Does this mean when they sadly pass on, I sell the house and owe that per week, OR will it revert to each week at full price being owed. If so why am I being advised not to sell the home?
Any advise will be so much appreciated. It's a terrible time and feel I am going round the bend myself. Thank you in advance.

AnotherJoe

Who advised you not to sell the house ?

I could guess the reason would be that if parents had that big pot of money then they would lose eligibility for state funding and benefits and if it's a modest house then selling it and using the money would not enable you to pay for a better home than a council one? But it depends how much the house is worth. If it's a million you could probably buy better care for a few years.

And, AIUI, yes when your parents die then the council will expect you to sell the house and pay the accumulated bill from the proceeds.

kgldsun

Thank you for your reply. The house would bring approx £150'000. Hardly a lot to last for both parents. However it was another residents next of kin who advised me not to sell. Something to do with the 2016 act. To be honest I'm in a daze with it all and fail to see what keeping an empty house will achieve, except as you pointed out.
Also I'm keen to know as stated earlier, if and when a charge on the house is put in place would it be the lower government funded price as is quoted now, or the higher price which it rises to as a self funder? Thanks in advance

Mojisola

kgldsun wrote: »

They have savings of less that 20'000 and I have been advised NOT to sell the house. How will this help the situation?

It won't - you will have the costs of maintaining an empty house plus the care home costs.

If the house is suitable for renting out, you have POAs for your parents and are willing to take on the responsibilities of a LL, it may be worth keeping on. Do you or your parents have other assets to pay for repairs if you have some bad tenants?

Your parents would be considered to be self-funding, a charge would be put on the house and the bill will have to be paid at some point in the future.

kgldsun

It's all what I expected, but I'm so confused as to why 'do not sell the house' was relayed to me.
I'm hoping I pass by this person again to question it again.
Is renting out a more profitable answer you think? My nativity on these matters are very high.
Many thanks for the advice.

3card

HI

Sorry to hear of your situation. I have been through the same although it was only 1 parent (my Mother)

Again like you the available cash was very much below the threshold for self funding so her only asset was her house which was a modest ex-council house valued at £80K and my Mom only owned 50% of the house becuase my Dads half was left in trust to myself, brother and a niece and nephew.

To cut a long story short myself and my Bro bought moms share and that money has been paying for her care since so because this was our move i didnt want to muddy the water with a a charge being put against the house while we made plans to purchase it

I have had a couple of meetings with the 'social' peeps and the last meeting this week was to go through my moms finances because her self funding will end next week.

Sorry i cant comment about the level of the charge but when i enquired this week with the social worker about how the defered scheme works i was told that after a few months of the charge being put in place i would have had to be seen to making efforts to sell the property so its not as long a process as i was told at the start.

A couple of pointers i would suggest is

1) make sure bother parents are receiving the higher level of attendance allowance now they are in a care home
2) Depending on the medical situation of your parents make sure you investigate the 'continued care funding' route which would fund their care without any cost to themselves.
Although this is very difficult to get its not impossible

Good luck with finding your answers

3card

kgldsun wrote: »

It's all what I expected, but I'm so confused as to why 'do not sell the house' was relayed to me.
I'm hoping I pass by this person again to question it again.
Is renting out a more profitable answer you think? My nativity on these matters are very high.
Many thanks for the advice.

In my position my Moms house would have earned around £500-550 per month after some updating and her costs for her care home is £650 per week so you can see it would have even got close to being a viable option.

My thoughts at the time also included that any improvements to the property would also bring in extra monies for the 'council' without any input from them

Mojisola

kgldsun wrote: »

It's all what I expected, but I'm so confused as to why 'do not sell the house' was relayed to me.

I'm hoping I pass by this person again to question it again.

Is renting out a more profitable answer you think? My nativity on these matters are very high.

Do ask them again and request something factual that you can verify.

Whether a house is worth renting out depends on many factors - is the house up to standard, is it in an area where rentals are in demand so that voids are rare or short, do you have the time and energy to manage it or will you have to spend money employing someone else, do you have the capital to keep up with maintenance and repairs and so on.

Have a look at the House Buying and Rental board for more specific advice.

Off the point of renting - as your parents will be self-funders, make sure they are getting all the benefits they are entitled to - probably higher rate Attendance Allowance as they both need 24/7 care.

AnotherJoe

kgldsun wrote: »

It's all what I expected, but I'm so confused as to why 'do not sell the house' was relayed to me.
I'm hoping I pass by this person again to question it again.
Is renting out a more profitable answer you think? My nativity on these matters are very high.
Many thanks for the advice.

My guess is, its because person thinks that If they had a big amount of cash from selling (or income from letting out) that would disqualify them from receiving various benefits and they would have to to self fund. But I don't think they (you) will have any option anyway. Usually the only way you can not be forced to sell, is the remaining partner still lives there.

I'm also guessing that letting the house out would go nowhere near paying for 2x care home fees. A friend of mine has just had to put his mother in a private dementia care home, I think it's £1400 a WEEK. :eek:

kgldsun

A big thank you for all your replies and any more to come which I will take on board. So needing advice at this moment.
Incidentally would a Soliciter help? I know they are costly but possibly would be able to help in these matters. I have the benefit of Social Services finanacial body coming out to see me in a week or so, but just have doubts that they will be their to assist in these matters other than cut and dried payment from a house sale.
Again, thank you in advance. Very sad times.

Pollycat

kgldsun wrote: »

It's all what I expected, but I'm so confused as to why 'do not sell the house' was relayed to me.
I'm hoping I pass by this person again to question it again.

My Mum meets random strangers in her village and comes back and says 'I should be getting x benefit' or 'my money would be better in x bank' or 'I shouldn't be taking x medication'.
It's a bloody nightmare!
People throw out comments when their situation is totally different or maybe they just don't know what they are talking about (that's usually the case in my experience).
I would try to get to the bottom of the reason why they made that statement if you get chance.

Re renting:
it depends what state the house is in (ref Mojisola's comment about 'suitable for renting'.
It depends on the location.
Renting is certainly not a recipe to earn easy money.

This may be useful:
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/care-homes/

You could also try CAB for advice.

3card wrote: »

2) Depending on the medical situation of your parents make sure you investigate the 'continued care funding' route which would fund their care without any cost to themselves.
Although this is very difficult to get its not impossible

Good luck with finding your answers

This ^^^^ is called 'Continuing Health Care' (CHC).

This may help or just google CHC.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2392.aspx?CategoryID=68