Care home costs, thresholds, and joint accounts

nezpottage

Thanks for all the replies.   I think I'm answered, but to fill in the blanks

My Dad (Mum's husband for clarity), and her two kids (myself and my sister) have both POA's, actually for both Mum and Dad.  We have the twin POA sorted just on the cusp of her being able to sign luckily.

On the payments side, the impression I have been given is that Mum's money can't be used to pay any extra for "care", but from what I have read above, can be used for anything "personal" like hair / nails / glasses and hearing aids etc etc.

My understanding is that any "top-up" cannot be paid by Mum, so comes from a 3rd party (in this case Dad will cover it)

Finances not sorted yet as she initially went in for a 4 week respite, with a view to assessment for long term.  During that time she went very downhill, and we needed to get Mental Health team involved.  That's where it gets messy with LOA and MH assessments that need doing before any finances are signed off.  The respite started in May.

We didn't have a good time with the temp home she was in as they couldn't really care for her needs properly, but 2 months or so ago she was moved to a great home that is a 3 in 1.  So currently she is in the Care Home side, but does need extra personal care.  Longer term as she deteriorates  (she has vascular dementia) she will be able to be moved to the nursing home side.

As it stands, because the LOA and MH still haven't done their full assessments (mainly through changes of meds, and now being moves so needing to settle) she is technically classed as "temporary care", so the LOA are picking up the tab for now.  When she becomes "permanent resident" on paper, that's when they will assess again.

I think now for us everything is fairly clear, but there is a glimmer of hope that we can prove all, or most, of the money in the joint account is solely from Dad's pension payments over the last 20+ years, so for now we will pull out his pension payments from the last 7 months (since the assessment was initially done) into a sole account for him, and also move the future payments to that account.   We'll probably also take the 50% of the remainder out, and then pursue if we can prove anything on the remainder being Dads.


One question I will ask, semi related, is Mum at the mo is close to the £23k threshold.  If we are lucky enough to stay under that come assessment finalisation, in theory her pension will at some point take her over.
At that stage, do the LOA know, and adjust, or do we have a duty to tell them.
And once assessment is done, do they re-assess from time to time, or just wait for us to inform of changes (I assume legally we need to do that).
From what I can gather if she is over the threshold, they will swap to her paying her own care until she dips under, and then we need a re-assessment.  Sounds like a fun circle every 6 months or so!

Brie

Others may correct me if I'm wrong but as you say that she's now in a good place can you look to see what they offer as extras and what she may need for her continued quality of life.  This is how I would reduce the amount of ££ she has.

Do they offer a hair salon of any sort?  Nice to have the personal touch of someone doing one's hair?

Does she need new/different clothing?  A friend found that his mom who had always worn nightdress type pajamas was able to maintain her dignity better in a "hospital" type setting by having tshirt/shorts pj sets instead.  Maybe cardigans instead of jumpers for the ease of assisting on/off.  Pull on trousers with elasticated waist in a larger size - easier to pull on rather than fuss with a zip and easier if adult diapers are required. Nice machine washable rather than wool/dry clean only?

Does she need any furniture/assistance items?  Social services/care home will provide a lot but a good quality chair with a remote to help stand/put her feet up was a god send for us (though MiL is still at home).  Furniture chap made the helpful suggestion to get one NOT with fabric upholstery for obvious reasons.

These are things that could be bought from her account/money or even from the joint account once you're sorted dad's money out.

p00hsticks

nezpottage said:

One question I will ask, semi related, is Mum at the mo is close to the £23k threshold.  If we are lucky enough to stay under that come assessment finalisation, in theory her pension will at some point take her over.
At that stage, do the LOA know, and adjust, or do we have a duty to tell them.

I'm not sure that I've interpreted your question right, but if it helps, based on my experience with my mother-in-law. If she doesn;t qualify for the NHS care and her care is funded by the local authority because her savings are below the £23k threshold, then the Local authority will expect to receive her pension in return, apart from £25 a week which can be used go pay for her personal items such as dental care, hairdressing, clothing etc.

lisyloo

If the local authority are paying her fees then she won’t be able to keep her pension or any other income e.g. attendance allowance if she gets it.
she will only be able to keep the personal allowance which is around £25 per week (for clothes, haircuts, toiletries etc.)

i understand the assessment hasn’t been finalised but most people would check the fees to make sure they could afford the top-up as it can be undesireable to move elderly people (apologies if I’ve misunderstood).