What happens if my friend sells her house while her husband is in care?

LandM1

My friend is in a mess. Her husband is in a care home after a bad stroke and has been there for some years. He won’t be returning home. Him and his wife are tenants in common for the house they own. His assets have fallen below the self funding level. The house is a disaster, no working heating and falling to bits. Far too big for my friend but she says she can’t sell it as half the money would then go to pay for the home. She doesn’t have the money to get it done up. Half of the money would not be sufficient for her to buy another property. Is there any way she can get out of this mess?

Keep_pedalling

If she sold the house to buy a smaller cheaper home then it could still be purchased on a tenants in common basis so it would only be 50% of the released equity that would possibly be available for care fees.

Does she or anyone else have power of attorney for him? If not and he does not have the mental capacity to act for himself then the house cannot be sold until she obtains deputyship for him. 

theoretica

Point 8 of this implies that she should be able to move to a new home that costs more than her 50% (if she or someone has LPA for her husband) - but this will probably need the council/care peoples agreement before hand and any surplus will be included in means testing. 

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs39-paying-for-care-in-a-care-home-if-you-have-a-partner.pdf

LandM1

So in theory she should be able to move into a house that costs the same or less than the one she’s selling? I’m guessing she has power of attorney but not sure. Living in that house is not good for her mental or physical health as she’s 78. Would that also be taken into consideration?

Savvy_Sue

It is no use guessing: she needs to confirm whether or not she (or someone else) has LPA, and if not the very first step is applying for Deputyship (or she could ask the council to do this for her, I believe). Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's not a quick process, and she will NOT be able to sell the house before that's in place. 

Brie

She could stay where she is and no one could force her to move.  But it sounds like she would like to.

So if she sells she will get 50% and her OH will get 50%.  And then his share can pay for his care costs.  Is that what she wants?

Her age is irrelevant.

Keep_pedalling

The other option she has is to sell up and move into more appropriate rented accommodation such as sheltered or assisted living. This would mean her husband’s share would go to fund his continuing care costs, but her quality of life could be improved greatly. 

Does she have any children? 

bryanb

Presumably the husband does not have mental capacity?

Marcon

Brie said:

She could stay where she is and no one could force her to move.  But it sounds like she would like to.

So if she sells she will get 50% and her OH will get 50%.  And then his share can pay for his care costs.  Is that what she wants?

Her age is irrelevant.

But that's not what happens. See https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads/can-i-sell-jointly-owned-home-whilst-husband-in-care-home.137813/