Care home fees - can we legitimately dispose of some savings?

hogweed

Hi – hope this is the best forum to post in? My father is likely to have to go into a care home some time over the next few weeks or months (hard to be certain at this point). My mother is also still living, and she will hopefully remain in better health for a few years more.

If he goes in, I understand that the local authority will demand that they use their capital in excess of £23,250 to pay for it. I didn’t think they had a lot put aside, but have just discovered to my shock that the total of their two current accounts, plus a couple of ISAs in her name, is nearly £50k, leaving about £26k to the LA’s clutches.

Obviously we want to minimise the amount they’ll have to give up, as it’s their life’s savings, but I understand that attempting to move it can be seen as taking evasive action, and so demanded anyway.

Is there anything we can do, eg by way of gifts to my daughter and me, or any where else?

Any help at all will be much appreciated – thanks

Alter_ego

Any particular reason the taxpayer should support them more than the law requires?

mrschaucer

Your father will be assessed on HIS savings only.

Marcon

hogweed said:

Hi – hope this is the best forum to post in? My father is likely to have to go into a care home some time over the next few weeks or months (hard to be certain at this point). My mother is also still living, and she will hopefully remain in better health for a few years more.

If he goes in, I understand that the local authority will demand that they use their capital in excess of £23,250 to pay for it. I didn’t think they had a lot put aside, but have just discovered to my shock that the total of their two current accounts, plus a couple of ISAs in her name, is nearly £50k, leaving about £26k to the LA’s clutches.

Obviously we want to minimise the amount they’ll have to give up, as it’s their life’s savings, but I understand that attempting to move it can be seen as taking evasive action, and so demanded anyway.

Is there anything we can do, eg by way of gifts to my daughter and me, or any where else?

Any help at all will be much appreciated – thanks

Surely your parents' savings are there to provide comfort in their old age, not 'gifts to you and your daughter' at the expense of the taxpayer? If your mother may need care in a few years, then giving away any funds now is highly likely to be seen as deprivation of assets, which means the local authority won't help. 

Keep_pedalling

To use  your terminology moving it into your clutches  is called deliberate deprivation of assets so it is an absolute no no.

He will only be assessed on anything in his own name plus 50% of anything in joint names.

mrschaucer

If both the ISAs are in your mother's name, they will not be assessed as belonging to your father.  He will only be assessed, as Keep_pedalling says, on assets in his name, and half of anything joint.

Robert_McGeddon

Care homes come in all sorts of quality and costs.  If you have the option of "topping-up" the most basic option that the LA might offer then your Dad might appreciate it.....

nanapop1977

Robert_McGeddon said:

Care homes come in all sorts of quality and costs.  If you have the option of "topping-up" the most basic option that the LA might offer then your Dad might appreciate it.....

Didn't think you could "top up" from your own or spouse's funds? Maybe different LAs have different rules, but where we live, I believe top ups have to come from "third parties".

Placitasgirl

You're correct nanapop1977, the top up cannot come from the spouse, only from children, relatives or another party. 

SevenOfNine

AgeUK will probably cover most of the advice & answers you need, without judgement. 

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/paying-for-care/financial-assessment/

Mickey666

Out of interest, how far back does this 'deliberate deprivation of assets' thing go?

I can see that giving everything away the week before someone needs a care home is likely to be deliberate, but what about the year before, or five years, or 10 years?  Supposing a parent bought their child a house 20 years ago, that would clearly be deliberate and it would deprive themselves of assets (the sort of thing that parents often do) but how would this be regarded by 'the powers that be' when it comes to care home fees?  How is anyone to know if they'll need a care home in the future?