Protect our assets

km1500

the only realbway to do what you want is to give it to the children now.

if you need a council care home in the near future they may regard it as deprivation of assets but as time goes by this becomes less and less likely

Pollycat

I just hope that the OP and/or his wife don't end up in a hell-hole of nursing/care home that my Mum spent the traumatic, distressing last 3 months of her life in.

Sadly, Mum didn't have the money to self-fund to a decent place but if £1,000,000 of Mum's money had been available my sister and I would have spent it to give her the care she deserved and needed.

If I was one of the OP's children, I'd be saying the same.
 

MEM62

chocolatekimmy said:

Having seen a grandparent spend nine years in a care home after a stroke in his seventies I don't blame you for looking into this.  His wife joined him for about 18 months.  

Statistically not something that happens to the majority of us.  

chocolatekimmy said:

After years of working hard (including serving in WW2), paying tax, living modestly and investing wisely virtually all their assets (house, car, caravan) and savings were wiped out by the time they died. 

By wiped out you mean that their assets were used to fund their care in later life and, hopefully, would have given them security, care and comfort in the twilight years.  I am struggling to see that as a negative - or would have preferred that their latter years were spent in more miserable circumstances just so that their descendants can enjoy spending the wealth that they built and that should have taken care of your grandparents.   

chocolatekimmy said:

Thats not what we sign up for, why should people in that position have to lose everything they've worked for all their lives?

We don't "sign up" for anything.  Life is what it is and some in later life need more care than others.  And your grandparents didn't "loose everything" - they used their assets to give themselves a comfortable life.   

@0779@0779mike What you are suggesting is that you are happy to have no money to spend on your care in later years if that is needed and would rather end up in the cheapest home that your local Council will fund just so that you can leave your assets to your family.  I hope that they will be very grateful for your sacrifice.  

km1500

You are correct - that is exactly what some people would like to do.

boingy

0779mike said:

I have worked all my life, paid NI and income tax for 50 years and claimed unemployment for just 4 weeks. That is the sum total of state benefits I have had.  We all have to make, I chose to live prudently and save my money.

I want my wife and children to control how my assets are spent not the local authority.

I have had some great advice in this forum in the past but I may have posted my question in the wrong place this time.

I'm afraid you've brought up a subject that always seems to trigger the mob. It's the ugly side of these forums. So many people quick to judge others. 

KxMx

Most seeking to do this kind of thing know little about the reality of care with no assets, having an extremely rose tinted view of what the state will provide. 

It's not always about having the choice about where to go, but when as well.

I had to watch a friend go through hell to get a relative with dementia into residential care- social services knew there was no money, bumped up home care visits to the maximum then immediately pressured family into calling in on top (if that wasn't an admission that home care was inadequate, I don't know what is). 

The persons GP, head of care agency and Police (who also became involved with welfare concerns) all pushed for them to get into a care home but social services refused. 

After 3 years the person needed a hospital admission and that was how they finally got funding for a care home, when the medical staff refused discharge home. 

My Mum has no assets and is in poor health at 66, already in sheltered housing I am very fearful for her future.

Brie

I agree with the others that what a lifetime of hard graft has gotten you is the freedom to choose.  Where and when.  Lots of people are going to be disappointed in what is available to them because they haven't worked so hard.  

Daniel54

KxMx said:

It's not always about having the choice about where to go, but when as well.

I had to watch a friend go through hell to get a relative with dementia into residential care- social services knew there was no money, bumped up home care visits to the maximum then immediately pressured family into calling in on top (if that wasn't an admission that home care was inadequate, I don't know what is) 
The persons GP, head of care agency and Police all pushed for them to get into a care home but social services refused. 
After 3 years the person needed a hospital admission and that was how they finally got funding for a care home.

My Mum has no assets and is in poor health at 66, already in sheltered housing and I am very fearful for her future.

I doubt there are many (if any) on this board think that the current system is not in need of urgent and substantive reform.That this has still not occurred is a failure of Government

But we are where we are - and yes,there are many who do not have the financial assets to self-fund and get caught up with  cash strapped local authorities  delivering the sort of scenario you describe.

In the context of this thread the OP has £1million of assets but does not wish to earmark any of those assets for the future care of either himself or his wife,which may in any case most likely prove not to be required.

In answer to Boingy, it is clear that many of us here have been involved in and arranging the care of elderly close relatives,most likely under a POA.I assume you have not had to bear that responsibility but  ,believe me,it is a hell of a lot easier if there are the the financial assets to offer choice.In both such cases I have been involved in there have still been substantial legacies upon death ,albeit after reduction due to care costs.

Keep_pedalling

Daniel54 said:

KxMx said:

It's not always about having the choice about where to go, but when as well.

I had to watch a friend go through hell to get a relative with dementia into residential care- social services knew there was no money, bumped up home care visits to the maximum then immediately pressured family into calling in on top (if that wasn't an admission that home care was inadequate, I don't know what is) 
The persons GP, head of care agency and Police all pushed for them to get into a care home but social services refused. 
After 3 years the person needed a hospital admission and that was how they finally got funding for a care home.

My Mum has no assets and is in poor health at 66, already in sheltered housing and I am very fearful for her future.

In answer to Boingy, it is clear that many of us here have been involved in and arranging the care of elderly close relatives,most likely under a POA.I assume you have not had to bear that responsibility but  ,believe me,it is a hell of a lot easier if there are the the financial assets to offer choice.In both such cases I have been involved in there have still been substantial legacies upon death ,albeit after reduction due to care costs.

I am one of those who has been there and agree it is hell and unlike my mother we are lucky enough to be in a position to have the choice of who where and when, and no way is any of that burden going to fall on our children. 

RAS

The majority of people who go into care die with 3-5 years.

We were fortunate that savings covered the first year's care home fees. You should have seen the social worker's face when I explained that we had garnered the assets, basically because the relative had a decent pension and I'd saved a lot sorting out their basic living costs and they hadn't been spending much else except on care for a few years.

The tension just dissolved and they wiped their hands. With the pension, attendance allowance and interest we barely touched the capital by the time they died. Although sorting it out was like a second full time job for several years.