Funding of adult care plan for an elderly person in receipt of benefits.

AsifM068

Hi forum - your thoughts and advice please.

Mum who is 89, disabled, has dementia and is housebound receives full housing benefit that covers her rent entirely and her council tax is paid for by her local council. In addition she receives weekly pension credit and higher rate attendance allowance monthly.

Mum is at the age now where she needs some in home support around her toileting and double incontinence - I (her son), lives in an adjacent flat to mum, does her daily cooking, medication, general cleaning, shopping , help with showering, laundry etc but I need some assistance now with mum's toileting and the ensuing clean up of her bathroom and bedroom as she tends to to leave 'accidents' there.

She has been referred to Adult Social Care for a needs assessment by our GP as her care needs are beginning to take a toll on my mental health and I cannot manage her toileting.

My question is, how this extra care would be funded and particularly the impact to her existing benefits, such as attendance allowance for I have packed in work for the past three years to look after mum with her and the family's understanding and explicit agreement that I would be her 'paid' carer in so far that her benefits would help to cover my rent and upkeep in the absence of employment?

I have an LPA for mom's finances and the LPA for her health and welfare is in process with the Office of the Public Guardian.

Mum also has sufficient capacity to make decisions around her future care; she is adamant that she wants to remain in her home but understands and accepts,as do I, that I need some professional help around her future care.

Many thanks 

Rubyroobs

Whether she would need to pay for care would also depend on whether she has savings in excess of £23250. I would suspect not but some people can still be eligible for Pension credit with highish savings. Adult social care will do a financial assessment if she has less than this. I'm pretty sure they would not take into consideration that you have an informal agreement around her paying you for care from her benefits. You could claim carers allowance if you wish but this may affect her pension credit if she is in receipt of a severe disability premium. If she has no savings I doubt she would have to pay anything towards care, but am not 100% sure on this. Hopefully someone who knows more will be along soon.

AsifM068

Rubyroobs said:

Whether she would need to pay for care would also depend on whether she has savings in excess of £23250. I would suspect not but some people can still be eligible for Pension credit with highish savings. Adult social care will do a financial assessment if she has less than this. I'm pretty sure they would not take into consideration that you have an informal agreement around her paying you for care from her benefits. You could claim carers allowance if you wish but this may affect her pension credit if she is in receipt of a severe disability premium. If she has no savings I doubt she would have to pay anything towards care, but am not 100% sure on this. Hopefully someone who knows more will be along soon.

Many thanks for this; mum has less than a £1000.00 in her post office savings account so hopefully she will not have to pay much for any proposed care package from her existing benefits.

Keep_pedalling

She would be expected to contribute from her income for any care she receives at home. Is sound like you are not claiming any benefits yourself is this correct? 

it also sounds like you are under family pressure to continue to be your mother’s full time career at the expense of your own health. What you are doing is horrendously stressful at frankly it sounds like you need somewhat more relief than several short visits a day from carers.  

AsifM068

Keep_pedalling said:

She would be expected to contribute from her income for any care she receives at home. Is sound like you are not claiming any benefits yourself is this correct? 

it also sounds like you are under family pressure to continue to be your mother’s full time career at the expense of your own health. What you are doing is horrendously stressful at frankly it sounds like you need somewhat more relief than several short visits a day from carers.  

I am not claiming any benefits for mum's care. All of mum's benefits are paid to me. This money together with my personal savings enables me to be a stay at home carer to mum as there are no family / friends to provide hands on help for mum.

Not to think too far ahead but I may have to return to work should domiciliary care means a marked reduction to her benefits as then I would not be able to afford to remain at home - hope this makes sense.

In further news, I am seeing my GP on Thursday as I am not sleeping at present through stress and intrusive thoughts regarding mum's care...hey ho, dems the breaks!  

Spoonie_Turtle

If your savings are below £16,000 then you can claim Universal Credit.  If you rent your flat, UC would pay a housing element towards that.  If you claimed the carer element you would not be expected to look for work, although that would stop any SDP your mum may be claiming.  The amount you would get in UC would no doubt more than make up for the loss of the SDP though. 

(You can claim UC without the carer element but would be expected to look for work unless you have a health condition impacting your ability to work.)

Keep_pedalling

AsifM068 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

She would be expected to contribute from her income for any care she receives at home. Is sound like you are not claiming any benefits yourself is this correct? 

it also sounds like you are under family pressure to continue to be your mother’s full time career at the expense of your own health. What you are doing is horrendously stressful at frankly it sounds like you need somewhat more relief than several short visits a day from carers.  

I am not claiming any benefits for mum's care. All of mum's benefits are paid to me. This money together with my personal savings enables me to be a stay at home carer to mum as there are no family / friends to provide hands on help for mum.

Not to think too far ahead but I may have to return to work should domiciliary care means a marked reduction to her benefits as then I would not be able to afford to remain at home - hope this makes sense.

In further news, I am seeing my GP on Thursday as I am not sleeping at present through stress and intrusive thoughts regarding mum's care...hey ho, dems the breaks!  

As a full time career you should not be relying entirely on your mother’s benefits you are also entitled to claim benefits of your own. 

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/benefits/benefits-if-youre-sick-disabled-or-a-carer/benefits-and-tax-credits-you-can-claim-as-a-carer

MikeJXE

Hi, so sad and well done you

I have been through what you are going through 

My wife age 58 me 63, married for 40 years, she had a brain tumour removed but the op went wrong, she couldn't walk talk or understand, not knowing her hand from her foot, didn't know how to wipe her bottom

I looked after her for 9 years on my own at home until it got so bad I knew I might even die before her and there would be no one to care for her 

One night after being up all night washing bed cloths I got her in the car, went to A and E, walked in and said I can't do this anymore and left her. 

Eventually we got her into a nice care home where she lasted another year before she died. I visited every day, I knew this was the only way I would survive. 

I know it's your mum but you have to realise what it's doing to you and what happens to her if something happens to you first 

AsifM068

MikeJXE said:

Hi, so sad and well done you

I have been through what you are going through 

My wife age 58 me 63, married for 40 years, she had a brain tumour removed but the op went wrong, she couldn't walk talk or understand, not knowing her hand from her foot, didn't know how to wipe her bottom

I looked after her for 9 years on my own at home until it got so bad I knew I might even die before her and there would be no one to care for her 

One night after being up all night washing bed cloths I got her in the car, went to A and E, walked in and said I can't do this anymore and left her. 

Eventually we got her into a nice care home where she lasted another year before she died. I visited every day, I knew this was the only way I would survive. 

I know it's your mum but you have to realise what it's doing to you and what happens to her if something happens to you first 

Thank you so much for your post sir and I too am saddened to hear of your care journey.

There are no family and friends to look after mum so for me there is no other choice. In this country I understand that I am under no legal obligation to look after mum but for me it is my duty and for the fact that should would not survive long without my care for the fact that she can do so little for herself yet her toileting needs are starting to take a real toll on my mental health and ability to sleep and was the reason why services have now been alerted through our GP initially. 

Having spoken to the GP to describe my plight and its toll on my MH, I have an appointment with him this Thursday as I already am being medicated for depression and anxiety way before assuming full time care for mum. If I break, it all goes pear shaped...ALL OF IT. So help is needed. How this plays out, god only knows my friend yet it is what it is.

May your wife rest in everlasting peace and may god bless you sir.  

lisyloo

Hi,

There will be a financial assessment.
You can also claim in this for extra costs associated with laundry due to incontinence and those kind of costs.

My personal experience (I did it twice) was that my parents were allowed around £300 per week income before they had to pay which I personally felt was quite generous.
This may vary with local authority but may put your mind at rest as a ball park.

There is a needs assessment and usually care is provided straight away.
Following that there is a financial assessment where details of savings, benefits, income and any extra costs get detailed.

My experience (and that of many others) is that you will (unfortunately) need to keep an eye on the carers.
Lots of old people says no when asked if they want a shower and many carers are happy to accept that as an answer without providing any encouragement or suggestion that they really need to wash.
As a female this is particularly important wrt UTIs
A lot of carers are good but they are hard pressed timewise so I'm not saying they are bad just that they will take no for an answer more readily than you or I might wish.
Although sounds like your mum knows her own mind !

Good Luck

elsien

Have you requested your own needs assessment as a carer, which you are also entitled to have? For example you could look at respite once in a while, if that would help you to keep going for longer?

This calculator will give you a rough guide as to what she needs to contribute. Income will be taken into account; it’s not just on savings.  There may be a similar one on your local authority website.
https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/care/adult-social-care/paying-for-care/care-contribution-calculator

 And as others have said it would probably be better for you to claim carers allowance and any other benefit in your own right rather than relying on your mother’s money.

I’m also wondering whether the family expectation towards you being the primary carer would extend to them giving you financial support in the changing circumstances?