What to do with mums finances as LPA as she goes into Nursing Care?

Cornholio_2

Can anyone advise what to do for the best- Mum saved diligently all her life, worked hard as a primary learning support teacher, she's been mentally ill last few years (I've done my best to care for her, had to give up my job and take my meagre pensions early as she lives far away and been splitting my own life 50/50 at mine and hers), several suicide attempts and has now been deemed to not have capacity and will be going into nursing care home. I've earmarked 3 places as requested by the appointed Social Worker, but am at a total loss as to what to do with her savings and house for the best. In Scotland if she is awarded the personal care and nursing care allowance, added to her pension(s) she has £52k a year, or £1k a week(that's best case scenario). Care home will be 100% funded privately of course. That leaves a shortfall of £30-40k a year.

House- valuation would be £250k

Savings- She has
Nationwide Reward ISA 
Aviva Bonds
Aviva Shares
Plus what is in her current account we are talking £100k total.

Should I "cash in" all of these things and put them in an easy access saving account (with highest interest)? Then do a standing order each month to top up her current account (monthly pensions)to pay the care home fees? Can't invest into anything that carries risk of losing it.
I've never had bonds, shares, ISA's so don't know what is best. Obviously trying to maximise what (diminishing) return I can get for her -selling the house may take time, need to stop as much money haemorrhaging from that as possible see if council tax can be stopped, cut internet, run heating to minimum(nobody will be living there) and just ensure the insurance is still payed until sold.
Total minefield.....Her mental health is still crap she wants to be dead, finding out at this stage that her wishes in her will will never happen and she's paying that much (7-8k a month) makes it that much worse for her to bear.... (Yep, she should have bought a place in the sun when she retired and spent it on travelling (and wine!), I told her that then.... But she decided to take in my junkie brother and look after his self-inflicted needs and he financially abused her in the end (ripped her off of £34k...)until he was booted out beginning of 2024)
Any advice is appreciated, there may be things I have no idea about that may be better than what I've considered....

Keep_pedalling

You are looking at short to medium term savings here, so shares are out and you should be looking at liquidated those Aviva shares ASAP. 

I would look at staircasing those savings into a number of accounts. Easy access to cover the first 12 months and fixed term for ongoing costs. What sort of pension income does she recieve? Does she get attendance allowance? If not apply now it is not means tested. 

Brie

Sorry that you've found yourself in such a difficult situation.

I think you need to consider what is easily accessible and what is not.  Anything in the savings should be easy to convert to available cash. 

The house is more difficult.  It's difficult perhaps but assuming she's never going to recover well enough to go home then I would start decluttering that with an eye to putting it up for sale, maybe just after Christmas.  The savings give you a couple of years to sell so you don't have to jump at the first offer. 

My mom went into an assisted living flat and in the 4 years since we've cleared most of the sprawling house and finally have it on the market to make a serious effort to sell. 

Cornholio_2

She didn't qualify for attendance allowance (we had input from a charity that was appointed by the discharge team when she was discharged after her longest stay in psychiatric hospital, they checked it all). So get rid of the shares then maybe put some in an easy (or maybe limited access- just read about them on MSE) and when the house sells put that in a fixed rate account.... I get the drift- stagger the money and access, if it's all in easy access the rate will be worse, just need to work out monthly/quarterly what needs to be in the account that pays for the care and ensure that can be met....Thanks for the reply.

Keep_pedalling

Forgot to say, as far as council tax is concerned you can obtain an exemption if the property will be unoccupied. 

Cornholio_2

Thanks Brie, sadly this is the proverbial end of the line for her, there's no going home from here, she's approaching 82 and so frail now, and cannot manage her colostomy either. I realise that  I'm going to have to start this process which is bad enough when someone has passed but she'll have to decide on a room full of possessions out of her home she's been in since 1979. I'm keeping nothing else. Selling the house could take a while, it needs a new kitchen and bathroom but at this point I'm not spending anything on it as whoever buys it would probably rip it all out anyway. To try and rent it out wouldn't make up the monthly shortfall so it has to go.

BooJewels

I'm sorry to hear of the situation you find yourself in - unfortunately, several of us here already have that T-shirt,  so speak from experience.

You should be able get Attendance Allowance - as it's to help pay for care - once she's in her new residence.   Should also get empty property discount on Council Tax - terms tend to vary by council in the details. Ensure that the insurers know the property is unoccupied - they usually only allow 60 days on an existing policy.  You might need to modify the policy you have, or take out a new policy, depending on the insurer.  One I dealt with only gave me 7 days to sort something out, another allowed me until the end of that policy, so about 5 months, which was enough in the end.  They'll almost certainly impose some conditions - like a minimum temp on the thermostat etc.

As for the house, I personally wouldn't spend anything to try and improve it to sell it - some of the developers here advised me to leave well alone, as developers prefer an honest house - new stuff makes them nervous and wonder what you're covering.  I sold 2 that were definite doer uppers and sold for quite a lot more than we expected, because both were in good locations with long waiting lists - both sold to viewers on the first day and have been significantly enlarged and improved since. 

I also worry about your brother - might he be problematic if he thinks the house will be empty and there's money in the pot?

ETA:  I knew there was something else - be mindful that not all organisations will allow you to open savings products under an LPA - you'll need to check T&Cs carefully before proceeding. You can't put it in your own name as it's not your money and would open up lots of potential problems.

SacredStephan

I suggest you ask the care home to help with the Attendance Allowance form - they will be used to doing this.
You say that Mum "lives far away". The insurance company that is covering her unoccupied house are likely to require regular visits by someone to inspect the property. It's a good idea to keep a record of these visits. They may also require working smoke alarm(s). In England there is a Council Tax exemption for a property that is empty because the owner has gone to live in a care home. I'm not sure if this applies in Scotland as well. Don't spend any money to upgrade or modernise an empty house that you want to sell.

elsien

Was she under section at all in hospital?  I’m not familiar with the Scottish system, but in England, there would be a strong argument for 117 aftercare paying for the placement if it was needed more for mental than physical health. Which might be the area of debate if she is now physically very frail.

ETA - I visit a lot of care homes as part of my job and there isn’t a hope in hell of any of them supporting with filling in benefits forms.
But it may well be worth posting on the benefits forum here about appealing the attendance allowance decision, because it’s hard to see how anyone who needs nursing care wouldn’t qualify. 

otb666

When we had to clear a house as sold we used British Heart Foundation. It cost £1500 for a 3 bed room plus shed and garage. We had a £4000 quote from auction house so was not sure how good BHF would be. They did it all in one day and cleared it all 3 lorry loads. Was very much relieved when all done. It would have taken us 8 skips at least otherwise and we did not have to lift a finger . We had to wait 4 weeks before they could come.  With house insurance after advising saga we had to visit once a week Then when renewal came we went with specialist company Home Protect its only for buildings as contents all gone thus a lot cheaper 20pm

dnpark38

My wife is in a care home and the DWLP stopped her Attendance Allowance when I informed them she was in care home so my attention was grabbed by the recommendation for OP to apply.