Equity release to pay care home fees

jonnydeppiwish!

Keep_pedalling said:

GDB2222 said:

Why are the council only part funding mum? Is the home she is in too expensive, or is there something else?

If the OP is paying top up then she will be in a care home with fees in excess of what the LA is willing to pay. 

It might be that mum and dad have cash in the bank still?

GDB2222

As this is a money saving website, let me point out that you might be able to organise care for both parents in their own home for less than it costs to have them both in a care home. It depends what care they need. 

MIL remained in her own home, and she had a live in carer. MIL was physically pretty well until just before she died, so she mostly just needed a carer to make sure she took her medication, had some food, and didn’t wander off and get lost.  I’ve no idea whether that would apply to your parents, of course. 

Alfrescodave

Keep_pedalling said:

It sounds very much like you are going to be in the unfortunate position of having both parents in residential care at the same time, and getting them both in the same care home can be very difficult so you need to be proactive on this now. Speak to you mum’s care home and find out what they can offer should the need arise. Also have a chat with your father’s social worker.

It is far better for this to be a proactive action rather than a reactive one. I would now be looking at all possible care homes locally that could offer joint care and put their house on the market. Its unlikely to be a quick resolution but one that meets everyones (yours included) requirements

Mojisola

GDB2222 said:

As this is a money saving website, let me point out that you might be able to organise care for both parents in their own home for less than it costs to have them both in a care home. It depends what care they need. 

MIL remained in her own home, and she had a live in carer.

My FIL had a live-in carer.  For one person, it cost more than a good care home (but it was what he wanted).

For two people in their own home, it could possibility be cheaper.  Worth investigating.

If their capital is mostly tied up in the house and family members help to fund care at home, get it all written up as a loan so that it will be repaid when the house is sold.

elsien

I also think you need to consider the third-party top up aspect of things. 

Because firstly it’s voluntary, which implies that you’ve agreed to pay it so that your mum is in a home which may be more suitable than the ones the local authority will fully fund.

But people can’t usually pay the top up themselves out of their own money once they get below the self funding threshold. That’s why it’s called third party. 

https://www.independentage.org/get-advice/health-and-care/paying-for-care/care-home-top-up-fees

So if both parents end up in a care home which costs a lot more than local authority are willing to pay, and you are not able to pay the third party top up for both of them, you may be looking at them having to move somewhere cheaper further down the line if the house sale money runs out. 
just putting that on your radar for future reference.

Stevensuperbike

Thank you for these replies. Dad has 4 carer visits a day for 30min this if funded by LA. He is now lonely at home all by himself. 

If he was to go into same care home as mum he would have lots of interaction with staff along with other residents there. This is probably best. I’ll have to make some enquiries with the care home. BTW dad has no private pension just state pension. Care home mum is in is brilliant so happy to pay third party top up. Fully funded care homes in our area have a bad name so willing to pay for mum to be in the one she is now. Thank you 

bunnygo

it looks like you have come to the decision which is that your father needs to move to a care home, and hopefully the same one as your mum. I really hope that he will get a space there. To be honest, once care needs reach 4 visits a day it is time, and as you say he is lonely. He will also be much safer in a home.

As the house sale will take a while, make sure you have appropriate empty property insurance and have removed all valuables to safe keeping. Hopefully it will sell quickly and the proceeds will look after your parents for the rest of their days.

Keep_pedalling

Stevensuperbike said:

Thank you for these replies. Dad has 4 carer visits a day for 30min this if funded by LA. He is now lonely at home all by himself. 

If he was to go into same care home as mum he would have lots of interaction with staff along with other residents there. This is probably best. I’ll have to make some enquiries with the care home. BTW dad has no private pension just state pension. Care home mum is in is brilliant so happy to pay third party top up. Fully funded care homes in our area have a bad name so willing to pay for mum to be in the one she is now. Thank you 

This was how my mum ended up before she eventually got an LA funded place in residential care and loneliness had a big negative impact on her health. Once she moved she spend almost every waking hour in the lounge chatting with her fellow residents and staff, a vast improvement in the quality of life for her last 18 months. Unfortunately she only had a small amount of savings and lived in a LA bungalow, so there was a long wait to get that funding approved.

Sounds like you have found the ideal place for your mum, hopefully you will be able to get the same level of support for your dad.

Mojisola

Stevensuperbike said:

If he was to go into same care home as mum he would have lots of interaction with staff along with other residents there. This is probably best. I’ll have to make some enquiries with the care home.

Once they both go into residential care, the value of the house will be taken into account and they will be considered self-funders by the council.

You can get a deferred payment scheme set up with the council which will pay part of both fees (up to the council's limit) until the house is sold.

As they will be self-funding, they can then pay the full amount of their care - you won't need to pay the top-up fee - until their cash assets drop to the relevant level.

As self-funders, they will also be entitled to Attendance Allowance, most likely at the higher rate - this helps towards paying the bills.

If you haven't seen it already, AgeUK has a lot of useful information about paying for care.  It's worth working through it - I found that some council officials gave out information that was wrong and I had to hold our ground to get things put right.

Stevensuperbike

Hi there, I have discussed this at length with my husband and he agrees about the welfare of mum and dad. He said Inheritance if any left down the line would just be a bonus, the most important thing is looking after mum and dad ensuring they are cared for for the remainder of their days.

looking at selling house and putting house on market, just one final question....

if I do sell house could I arrange for mums 3rd party top up fees to be paid back into our account if possible? If house sold mum and dad would have the sale money in bank account £150k+, I understand this will be used to fund care home fully until fees run down to £23k each, after this runs dry I’ll have to start paying 3rd party top up again. What would entail whereby I could get the 3rd party top up back pre dad going into care? Sorry that’s lots of questions!!! Thanks