Carer funding

turnitround

BrianJohns said:

turnitround said:

BrianJohns said:

Hope someone can help my wife needs carers but the council won't help. A bit of background a few years ago when I(not my wife) retired with a company pension I opted to take a smaller pension and a lump sum the idea being to buy 2 small terraced houses both with 50% mortgage and rent them out to improve my pension. I did this but I purchased the houses in joint names, me and my wife. Now the problem is the council is refusing carer funding because of these assets but we have little money in savings. So I assume they want us to evict a tenant and sell a house. But to me this is using my pension to fund my wife's care. Which I feel is wrong I can prove where the money came from, my pension, had I taken my full pension without a lump sum we wouldn't be in this predicament. It seemed a good idea but due to my wife developing Parkinson’s we are now in this predicament. Thanks for any advise, who to contact, what to do etc. My wife recieves Pip and ESA with no other income.

But isn't this exactly what couples do. Take care of each other. 

Read again there's no money I should just evict a family from their home of 6 years? 

There is no need to be rude, I did read your post. It comes across as you saying you object to using 'your' pension to und your wifes care. Surely if you build up assets to help in later life then this is exactly when they may be needed.

No need to evict tenants if you sell to another landlord. You do have savings, they are just tied up in property.  If they were cash then the council would expect you to pay for the carers. You seem to want the taxpayer to pay for your wifes care whilst you sit on your assets.

Ayr_Rage

@turnitround I think you have hit the nail on the head, the OP is in a very fortunate position having considerable assets unlike many and cannot accept they have an obligation to use those before any more state benefits kick in.

baser999

Sadly the council seem to provide little help if you’ve got assets, or income, jointly or separately. Mum needed pop-in care, it cost her around £1400pm which she had to self-finance. She’s now in a nursing home, costing £1600 a week 😱 which again is self-financed. She has state benefits as well as a pension from my late-father, and savings. She gets pretty upset at have to spend what she regards as ‘mine and my brothers inheritance’ which as she says she and our father saved hard to accumulate. Still has her small flat which we’ve got to sell if she’s in need of funds beyond March next year.

born_again

baser999 said:

Sadly the council seem to provide little help if you’ve got assets, or income, jointly or separately. Mum needed pop-in care, it cost her around £1400pm which she had to self-finance. She’s now in a nursing home, costing £1600 a week 😱 which again is self-financed. She has state benefits as well as a pension from my late-father, and savings. She gets pretty upset at have to spend what she regards as ‘mine and my brothers inheritance’ which as she says she and our father saved hard to accumulate. Still has her small flat which we’ve got to sell if she’s in need of funds beyond March next year.

You might be eligible for the local council to pay towards the cost of your social care if you have less than £23,250 in savings (called the upper capital limit, or UCL). From October 2025 this will rise to £100,000 in savings.

KxMx

baser999 said:

Sadly the council seem to provide little help if you’ve got assets, or income, jointly or separately. Mum needed pop-in care, it cost her around £1400pm which she had to self-finance. She’s now in a nursing home, costing £1600 a week 😱 which again is self-financed. She has state benefits as well as a pension from my late-father, and savings. She gets pretty upset at have to spend what she regards as ‘mine and my brothers inheritance’ which as she says she and our father saved hard to accumulate. Still has her small flat which we’ve got to sell if she’s in need of funds beyond March next year.

Why sadly? 

Assets allow choice not only of where and how the care is provided, but when it starts. 

I've just watched a friend have a 3 year battle to get relative with dementia admitted into a care home, because they didn't have assets and social services knew that. Every other professional involved (GP, care agency, Police) said the person needed a care home but SS refused to pay, instead increasing care visits to the maximum 4 per day and immediately pressuring the family to call in on top.
Said person only got into a care home after a hospital admission, where discharge to anything other than a care home was refused. 
They are admittedly somewhere nice but the choice was very limited. 

I now have grave concerns about my mums future, she has no assets and at just 66 already in poor health living in sheltered housing. 

I would MUCH rather she was in your Mum's very fortunate position. 

Cyclamen

I think it helps to see the 'assets' as a safety net, future funds.  

Owning two rental properties (even on mortgage) and presumably the place you live is a great way of trying to get financial security into the future and if health holds a good plan.  Its also a great safety net for you to sell  to allow choice and the right level of care for your wife. Rather than scraping by n the minimum the coucil allocates. 

Rental properties count as income/savings and social care is means assessed. Even those on benefits often have to pay a 'care contribution' towards their care.   

I do feel for your tenants as round here its hard to find rental properties but in this i feel you need to prioritise getting your wife the support she needs over housing another family as awful as that sounds.  I hope someone would buy your home and keep the tenents.