Shoul my mum separate her cash from her Alzhiemers husband?

cirhossa1

My mum lives in a council house and lives with her husband (they married in their 70’s).
Between them they have over £90,000

He needs to go into respite care and it’s likely that he will then go into a care home as his Alzhiemers is severe.

Should my mum be creating a new bank account in her name to protect her money?

Also I’ve been asked to arrange care for him, but am worried about a comeback from his sons.. should I ask them (again) to take control of his care ?

I’m so upset, this is the hardest thing ever. Thank you

xylophone

Should my mum be creating a new bank account in her name to protect her money?

See https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/large-print-factsheets/fs39_lp_paying_for_care_in_a_care_home_if_you_have_a_partner_fcs.pdf

Example
One member of a couple enters a care home and has £50,000 in a joint account. The resident is assessed as having £25,000 (50 per cent), which is £1,750 above the upper capital limit.
However, £3,500 must be spent from the joint account before the overall total falls to £46,500 and the resident’s 50 per cent share falls to £23,250 (upper capital limit).
Dividing the joint account at the outset saves the couple having to spend more capital than is necessary before the resident’s assessed share falls below the upper capital limit. However, the position for jointly owned property is different, see below.

kiwi77

I am genuinely sorry to hear you are facing this - as are many thousands of families. Alzheimers is a cruel disease. Its good that you are able to arrange respite care to give your Mum a break - caring full time for someone with Alzheimers can be like being held hostage from living your own life, and its good if there is an acceptance that he needs to go into a nursing home - once the condition progresses its best to allow professional nurses to take care of his day to day needs.
The links provided above are very useful. Putting your Mums money into a separate account is not going to protect it - the law protects in anyway. If they are married then half the £90K is legally hers - that leaves £45K belonging to her husband. The first £23,250 of the persons assets is protected - anything above that is taken to contribute to care costs - so £21,750 will be used to help pay for his care costs -along with any other income he may have from, for example, pensions or benefits.
I would also contact your local CAB or AGEUK to check that your mum is receipt of all benefits she is entitled to, for example, carers allowance - your Dad should get attendance allowance. Its a minefield but these two organisations should be able to help sign post you in the right direction.

Brynsam

cirhossa1 wrote: »

Also I’ve been asked to arrange care for him, but am worried about a comeback from his sons.. should I ask them (again) to take control of his care ?

Asked by whom - your mum? If so, suggest to her that you have a family conference (call it what you will - natter, pow wow, whatever terminology is least likely to upset people) and agree on who will do what - then e-mail the sons confirming the decisions.

Socajam

cirhossa1 wrote: »

My mum lives in a council house and lives with her husband (they married in their 70’s).
Between them they have over £90,000

He needs to go into respite care and it’s likely that he will then go into a care home as his Alzhiemers is severe.

Should my mum be creating a new bank account in her name to protect her money?

Also I’ve been asked to arrange care for him, but am worried about a comeback from his sons.. should I ask them (again) to take control of his care ?

I’m so upset, this is the hardest thing ever. Thank you

Me personally, I would separate the money especially like how he have children.

I would open a new bank account and put the money in both you and your mom's name.
If your mom was to die first, the money would not be going to his sons', which might happen if you leave it as it is. The least problem you have with this the better in the long run.
Nothing bring out the bad in people during death than money. Get this sorted now before I see you back on here wishing you had.

tyllwyd

Leaving aside the savings, are you saying that your mum & dad only have a joint bank account? If so, your mum should definitely open her own current account for her pension, so that there is no problem with her accessing her own money. If the bank realise that your dad has lost mental capacity and there is no LPA in place, they could potentially restrict the account and it could take a while to get sorted out.

xylophone

If so, your mum should definitely open her own current account for her pension,

Don't forget to contact DWP about change of instructions.

lisyloo

Is there an LPA in place?
If there is nothing in place I can’t see how anyone has permission to operate his bank account.

I am assuming he has lost the capacity to make decisions?
If that is the case and there is no LPA then someone need to be a deputy.
I applied for one and it took 6 months to get the court order.

If I can be of any help (there a lots of forms) then feel free to PM me.