Property deeds question and elderly care!

overload99

Can anyone please give some advice on the following situation:

James is in his 50s and lives at home with his 99-year-old mother. James has Asperger syndrome.

Since James' father died in 1993, he has been his mother's main carer and has been her full-time carer since 2007. James also took on the mortgage payments for their home in 1993 and paid off the balance on the house. It has come to light however, that on the deeds to the property, although James is named on the deeds, so are his mother and late father. This was an oversight and the intention of James's mother is that the house should belong to James. It is his home and he made the mortgage payments for it. The property is worth approximately £60k. Can the deeds simply be changed to show him as sole owner? Who would be the rightful owner in the eyes of the law?

The situation now is that his 99-year-old mother has had a fall and been in hospital. She is ready to be discharged but there is no plan in place for her care. If she goes home, she cannot manage the stairs so she would have to live in the living room with a bed and commode being set up for her. This is the only downstairs room they have besides the kitchen so they would both lose their living space and she would be forced to compromise on her privacy and dignity. Ideally she would go into a care home where she can be properly looked after.

For James, the concern is that he stands to lose everything. If his mother goes into a care home, who will pay for this? Will his home be used as payment? If so, he will lose his home and also his carer's allowance which is his only source of income. Is she entitled to any sort of help or funding to pay for her care? Is James eligible for any form of care and support for himself?

Thank you!

Browntoa

It's too late to change this

But only his mother's "share" is at risk , a charge is made against it but is not actioned until the property is sold

If his father has died his share passes to the others so it's a 50% share

Gavin83

The value of the property will be ignored. How much she pays will depend on any other assets she has. This is of course assuming they assess she requires residential care the unsuitability of the home is not reason enough to place her in permanent care. I assume being the age she is a social worker visited her in hospital, what did they say?

He will however lose his carers allowance so he needs to apply for JSA while job hunting.

Mojisola

ruthieb77 wrote: »

James is in his 50s and lives at home with his 99-year-old mother. James has Asperger syndrome.

Since James' father died in 1993, he has been his mother's main carer and has been her full-time carer since 2007.

Although James has been his mother's carer, would he count as having a disability?

If so, the value of the house could be disregarded.

Savvy_Sue

If Mum cannot use the stairs, could James not make himself a sitting room upstairs?

TARDIS

Many people live downstairs in similar situations. Not being able to do stairs is not in itself a reason to move to a care home. There may of course be other reasons this is required such as severe dementia or continence issues.

Assuming she has the mental capacity to make these decisions the key information in all this is what does James' mum want to do? Ultimately it's her decision.

badmemory

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

If Mum cannot use the stairs, could James not make himself a sitting room upstairs?

This would seem a sensible idea, if fact my son has had our 3rd bedroom as a "sitting room" since his late teens.

I would also suggest trying to keep her out of a care home as long as possible as dementia appears to increase more quickly in a home and a lot more quickly in a hospital than it does in someones own home. The sooner she is out of hospital the better.

Keep_pedalling

badmemory wrote: »

I would also suggest trying to keep her out of a care home as long as possible as dementia appears to increase more quickly in a home and a lot more quickly in a hospital than it does in someones own home. The sooner she is out of hospital the better.

That is rather sweeping statement, and one I think that is way off the mark for most people especially if living at home means living alone. My mother's health and mental capacity was deteriating rapidly living at home, but has stabilised significantly in the last 18 months since she has been in care where she not only has the security of 24/7 access to care staff, but a good deal of social interaction with other people throughout the day.

badmemory

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

That is rather sweeping statement, and one I think that is way off the mark for most people especially if living at home means living alone. My mother's health and mental capacity was deteriating rapidly living at home, but has stabilised significantly in the last 18 months since she has been in care where she not only has the security of 24/7 access to care staff, but a good deal of social interaction with other people throughout the day.

Yes I would agree with you on occasion, but we are not talking about someone living alone in this case. I have seen several people who have gone into hospital, usually for an infection or a fracture (not a stroke etc) who come out significantly deteriorated mentally.

Jenniefour

TARDIS wrote: »

Assuming she has the mental capacity to make these decisions the key information in all this is what does James' mum want to do? Ultimately it's her decision.

What Mum wants is important. What James wants, and is able to deal with, is equally important. There can be a point in being someone's carer in this kind of situation where health problems are getting progressively worse, more care is needed and it becomes too much for the other person to cope with and has a detrimental affect on their health too. What he wants, and how this is all impacting on him needs taking into account too.

troubleinparadise

badmemory wrote: »

Yes I would agree with you on occasion, but we are not talking about someone living alone in this case. I have seen several people who have gone into hospital, usually for an infection or a fracture (not a stroke etc) who come out significantly deteriorated mentally.

Infection and delirium can cause significant mental impairment and decline, which doesn't always resolve to a previous level of cognition. The inflammation caused by the infection causes the mental decline, not the hospital or care home setting.

However, there is also the possibility of acquiring new infections in hospital that make problems worse - so staying in hospital longer than necessary can lead to more issues for a vulnerable person.