We have LPA for a friend & WE are being asked to fund £200 a week Care Home Fees?

lpa2025

My parents and I have LPA's for my ex-brother-in-law who is bedridden (brain tumor). He has been placed in a care home from hospital (tenancy on rental property now ended, did have carers 4 times a day prior to hospital).

It has been agreed that he needs to be in a care facility and has been placed in the only space the Council say is available. He has about £14k in savings. We have been told that only £800 will be paid towards his care and we are being asked for the extra £200 a week to make up the shortfall!
A. We are not in a positions to do so (my parents are 80 and need help themselves and I am disabled and unable to work) B. While we care and have helped him out we are happy to hand the responsibility over to someone else if he is safely in a care home. (The fiasco with carers forgetting him etc and him asking us if we could manage his finances is why LPAs were taken out) Surely this does not mean we are financially responsible for paying for him ourselves?

My parents live nearer and I feel are being pressurized for money, money they will need for their own care! 

Any legal advice on this would be very much appreciated as I am expecting a phonecall myself about this next week and need to be certain as to our legal position. 
TIA

Flugelhorn

no you don't have to pay up - the only person who has to pay is the ex BIL and if he doesn't have the money then the council either have to cover it or find somewhere else for him. 

they tend to try this on with the nearest and dearest who would pay out to have the relative in a place of their choice rather than one chosen by the council 

Keep_pedalling

Holding LPA for someone does not make you financially responsible for them and you are under no obligation to top their card payments. He would need to contribute from any income he receives though. Has a financial assessment been made for him? 

For a brain tumour I would have thought NHS continuing care might be available.

tacpot12

Neither you nor your parens can be forced to contribute to his care, unless you have signed a contract that says you will pay for his care. If there is no such contract, then any suggestion that you pay for his care is just a suggestion, at best. You can safely ignore any such suggestions. 

lpa2025

That was my understanding. I think my parents have been very nicey, nice about it. I am inclined to be the incensed daughter that her elderly parents are been pressurised for money (which is what is happening). My attitude is if the Council won't pay £1600+ a month then they need to find him somewhere cheaper. They have said "but we don't have anywhere else available". My reaction is "Not our problem ... your responsibility to sort it out not ours". I like and feel for the bloke (his vocab is down to yes, no, hello, goodbye and not much else) so we have stood up for him as best we can but that doesn't extend to paying for him.

Brie

So this is someone who isn't actually a relative at all?  Not that it should matter.

As I understand it (& I'm not a legal person) the only one responsible for paying for care is the individual. 

So the council can pay whatever and then ex BiL can fund a portion of the rest. 

They may expect some money on an ongoing basis from him but it's him that is doing the funding.  Your (you & parents) only responsibility is to effectively facilitate getting the money from his account to the council.  The money should NOT be coming from your (you & parents) accounts.  

The only other source of funding that might be possible would be the NHS if a portion of his care is considered to be medically based, i.e. nursing, rather than ensuring he's fed and brushes his teeth.  

lpa2025

Thanks for replies Keep_pedalling & tacpot12

It was at a meeting to discuss his funding etc. Dad had taken all the paperwork (he has to send in copies of statements for the last 3 months etc). He has been in home for 12 weeks. Everyone agrees he need to be in a care home and this is where he was sent (they have been told there are no others available).
I think they are trying to push this off onto us when we have no responsibility to fund this. Are there any links, rules etc that I can quote back to this man (I think he is the social worker) who is dealing with this? Thanks

elsien

They are asking for a third-party top up. A third-party top up is voluntary and there is no obligation on anyone to pay it.

If this is the only care home that will meet the gentleman’s assessed needs then the local authority will have to pay. If other places can meet needs but are cheaper then they will move him.

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

But you are correct. Your parents have no obligation at all to pay anything. And if the local authority try to insist I would be whacking a complaint in. 

elsien

This top up decision actually comes from the care act if you want to look at the relevant legislation , But this is a summary of the bits you need.

When a Top-up must not be applied

A top-up charge must not be applied if there is no suitable placement available within the personal budget amount. In this case, the Local Authority is required to increase the personal budget amount to the level needed to meet the cost of an available suitable placement.

https://careact.trixonline.co.uk/chapter/choice-of-accommodation-and-topping-up

TELLIT01

Some councils will try every trick in the book, and plenty which aren't in the book, to screw money out of people.  The mother of a friend had to go into care and they tried to make the daughter pay for it.  The mother's house was held in a long standing trust fund (I don't know the details) which meant it couldn't be included in her assets.  Despite that, the council changed all the locks on the house, and refused to let the daughter gain access even to remove her own property.  That ended up with the trustees taking the council to court, and the council losing!

During the period the council were controlling the house there was a break in but the council said that wasn't their problem.

Brie

elsien said:

They are asking for a third-party top up. A third-party top up is voluntary and there is no obligation on anyone to pay it.

If this is the only care home that will meet the gentleman’s assessed needs then the local authority will have to pay. If other places can meet needs but are cheaper then they will move him.

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

But you are correct. Your parents have no obligation at all to pay anything. And if the local authority try to insist I would be whacking a complaint in. 

And cc in the local councilor and the MP for the area.