Care Home Fees

Keep_pedalling

billy2shots said:

Your dads contribution will be based on his pension/benefits income. It is not the whole fee as social services will pay the majority of the cost ( in your dads situation given the info you supplied). 

A financial assessment should have been carried out and his contribution would have been worked out from there. The money sounds like it is sat in his bank account. Who has control over that?

Exactly, when my mother was in care funded by the LA virtually all her pension went as her contribution to her care costs.

In your case it seems you refused to pay this, so I have to ask where did all this income go when he was in care and had no other out goings?

xylophone

It appears that your father had no property, low savings and a modest income so that in the event that he needed care ( was an assessment done?), the bulk of his fees would have been LA funded.
However, 
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/paying-for-care/paying-for-a-care-home/

Your local council must calculate the cost of your care and how much you have to contribute from your resources. This figure must be realistic and allow you to access an appropriate local care home.

You will be expected to pay towards the cost from all your eligible income, however you must be left with £24.90 per week. This is known as your Personal Expenses Allowance.

If your needs are primarily health-based the NHS may contribute towards the cost of your care. If you’re eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, your care home placement will be free.

Ihatechoc345

My brother and I had LPOA but as I understand this legal responsibility dies with him.  We know that the care home charges we around £1,000 pw and social services were paying around £445pw approx of that to care home.  It appears they want the rest from us now but we don’t have it and dads last monies went towards his funeral. 

Ihatechoc345

He should also have been fast tracked for CHC funding as he was on end of life for 2 weeks but this doesn't not appear to have been reflected in the bill.  

xylophone

My brother and I had LPOA but as I understand this legal responsibility dies with him.  We know that the care home charges we around £1,000 pw and social services were paying around £445pw approx of that to care home.  It appears they want the rest from us now but we don’t have it and dads last monies went towards his funeral. 

Should you have been making regular contributions from his income as above?

He should also have been fast tracked for CHC funding as he was on end of life for 2 weeks but this doesn't not appear to have been reflected in the bill.  

 Relative's relative was fully self funding and should have been assessed for CHC for her last month or so - never happened ( the assessor said she was too ill to assess!) and certainly no fee reduction.

Mojisola

Ihatechoc345 said:

My brother and I had LPOA but as I understand this legal responsibility dies with him.  We know that the care home charges we around £1,000 pw and social services were paying around £445pw approx of that to care home.  It appears they want the rest from us now but we don’t have it and dads last monies went towards his funeral. 

It sounds as if the care home is going to lose out.

As his attorneys, why weren't you paying his contribution to his care with his pension?

Linton

As others have asked, what happened to your father's income if it was not going to help pay his care home fees?  ISTM that in principle you could be held responsible for the fees if it was shown that you failed in your PoA duties in this respect.

billy2shots

Ihatechoc345 said:

My brother and I had LPOA but as I understand this legal responsibility dies with him.  We know that the care home charges we around £1,000 pw and social services were paying around £445pw approx of that to care home.  It appears they want the rest from us now but we don’t have it and dads last monies went towards his funeral. 

So your father must have had a weekly income of £580+. Seems very high but maybe he had a good pension?

Who was financially responsible, you or your brother?

elsien

billy2shots said:

Ihatechoc345 said:

My brother and I had LPOA but as I understand this legal responsibility dies with him.  We know that the care home charges we around £1,000 pw and social services were paying around £445pw approx of that to care home.  It appears they want the rest from us now but we don’t have it and dads last monies went towards his funeral. 

So your father must have had a weekly income of £580+. Seems very high but maybe he had a good pension?

Who was financially responsible, you or your brother?

 Both of them equally if they both had power of attorney. 

billy2shots

elsien said:

billy2shots said:

Ihatechoc345 said:

My brother and I had LPOA but as I understand this legal responsibility dies with him.  We know that the care home charges we around £1,000 pw and social services were paying around £445pw approx of that to care home.  It appears they want the rest from us now but we don’t have it and dads last monies went towards his funeral. 

So your father must have had a weekly income of £580+. Seems very high but maybe he had a good pension?

Who was financially responsible, you or your brother?

 Both of them equally if they both had power of attorney. 

There are 2 types of LPA. One for Health and Care decisions and one for financial decisions. The OP says the care home wants money from them not their dads monies. Financial  POA requires you to keep the persons money separate from your own so if dads money is gone , it’s gone. In my experience it’s not uncommon for one child to take more of a lead role than another in these cases and was curious as to whether the money was actually there without the OP realising. 

As the accounts need to be kept separate there could be some enquiries into how dads money has been spent during the time you had LPA (if it’s financial LPA you had). If the paper trail clearly shows the money was spent on him, hair cuts, toiletries, clothing personal items, funeral etc then you (OP) have absolutely nothing to worry about and dads ‘bill’ dies with him. If all his spends can’t be explained and proven i.e someone has been spending his money on themselves then there can and should be repercussions.