Mum needs full time care soon. Advice required on paying for this

theoretica

I suspect it is worth getting as much as possible out of the system - here in the form of care assessments and finding out what the council think might be best for her (which will be heavily influenced by the expectation that they will be paying for it and discounting the house your father lives in). 

FlorayG

elsien said:

Honestly, I think you might struggle to find nighttime care. Most people who made that level of health are in care homes, and a live-in carer is not going to want to be up several times during the night.

Yes they will, it's part of the job. My mom had a live-in carer, they change every 2 weeks but while they are on duty they are on duty 22 hours a day with 2 hours off to do their own thing, go shopping, go for a walk, talk to friends. They are really great but you're looking at paying at least £800 a week and probably more

lr1277

I wasn’t entirely clear in my previous post. Here are some clarifying details.
Dad was in hospital and the care package was a condition of his discharge. That care package lasted 1 month then we were on our own.
It was this care company who insisted on 2 carers per visit and a single hospital style bed. So when we arranged our own carers privately, we continued with 2 carers. We also started the process to get the electric hospital style bed. I think this arrived perhaps after our own carers started. I an hazy on this as it was now 2 years ago.
My dad was bed ridden and my dad’s doctor was concerned about fluid build up in the torso which leads to infection which leads to a worsening of his dementia. In my view dad’s condition was a step down disease. Every time he got a chest or bladder infection his dementia got worse. When re recovered, his dementia was always worse than prior to the infection. To prevent the fluid build up he was sat in a recliner chair for a few hours a day by the carers (and moved back to the bed by them). He was also taken for short (10m) walks by the carers once a day when he felt up to it. I think as he got worse and needed to be moved around, 2 carers was better than 1.

It was the care package organised by the hospital that put us in contact with the people at the county council or social services or whichever was the correct department who provided the bed and also gave the recommendations about the local care firms.
The electric reclining chair we rented privately from a local firm.

bunnygo

regarding equity release - it absolutely IS a specialist area and you need proper advice. Don't even think about any of the firms that advertise on TV!

You need someone from the Society of Later Life advisers; look for someone who is 'independent', is near to your family and whose areas of expertise match what you need. They will do an initial chat for free.

https://societyoflaterlifeadvisers.co.uk/

smithereens

Its been almost a year now. in that time, Mum has had carers visit twice a day from a provider contracted with the council. Unfortunately she has fallen a couple of times (not when carers are there) and ended up in A&E. Thoughts are that maybe a full time care home might be needed.

Wonder if anyone can shed some light on this 23,000 cut off, ie if my parents have joint savings / properties, with some assets under my Dads name, others under my Mum's name, does it mean that everything until the final 23k needs to go towards care regardless of who owns what, or is it just my Mum's saving ( or 50% if joint) that get's used up to her final 23000, so my Dad's side of things is not used for contribution?

Also, if my Mum were to go to a care home, and my Dad remains in the house, will the council put a charge on the house?

 Thanks

elsien

The property is excluded from the financial assessment while your dad still lives there. 

smithereens

elsien said:

The property is excluded from the financial assessment while your dad still lives there. 

Thank you. So when would they put a charge on the house, would you know?

elsien

They are not going to put a charge on the house as such. If your mum is not living there and your dad goes into care or passes away (and there is no-one else  there over 60 or disabled, which would mean it would continue to be disregarded), if there are not enough assets elsewhere for the person to be self funding, then the council would look at a deferred payment agreement. So any money owed is paid as and when the  house is sold. 

There is a very comprehensive guide to financial assessments for residential care on the age UK website