Care Home Housing Advice

bambam789

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help me and may have some experience in this matter.

My dad lives alone in a house he owns. Mortgage is fully paid up. In 2021 after my mum passed away we agreed it was best for me to have power of attorney over him which we put in place. We also put my dad's house into a trust with myself as the sole benificiary as per my dads wishes as I am an only child.

Unfortunately my dad's health is declining and the potential of a care home is on the horizon. My question is this - when a financial assessment is done how will my dad's house be taken into account? My end goal is to not lose the house.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

elsien

It is an individual decision when the financial assessment is completed, depending on the circumstances at the time, your dad’s house and whether it was foreseeable that he would need care and the reason for the property being put in trust.
No one can give you a definitive answer either way.
However expect to answer questions about any other reason for putting it in Trust other than to avoid care home fees because you appear not to live there so you don’t have a stake in the property as such. And bear in mind that as his power of attorney if he has now lost capacity for finances, you have to act in his best interest, not to preserve his assets for other people.

Keep_pedalling

The transfer into a trust is almost certainly (and quite rightly) going to be looked at as deliberate deprivation of assets as there is no other logical reason why his home was put into trust.

Does he have any other significant assets? If not do you really want him to have to rely on a cash strapped LA to find him residential care and fund it or would you prefer him to have the choice of where he receives care that self funding would give him.

bambam789

Thank you for your response. He has no other properties. He has some savings which are over the assessment threshold I know that and I'm fine with that.

Why do you say it would be viewed as deliberate deprivation? Trust funds are a well known means to protect assets for family members or friends. It was done 5 years ago long before my dad was even close to potentially going into a home. So it was simply set up ahead of time to protect my dads house.

bambam789

Thanks for your reply. I don't unerstand why they would view it that we set the trust up to avoid care home fees from 5 years ago. I understand if it was more recent but we genuinely set it up to protect my dads house down the line off the back of a solicitors advice. Care home's were never mentioned or thought of at all.

Spoonie_Turtle

it was simply set up ahead of time to protect my dads house.

I say this neutrally and without any judgement, just to help you see the perspective of those doing the assessment: The obvious questions here are, ahead of what, and to protect the house from what?

bambam789

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82086261#Comment_82086261

Yes I see that perspective from the outside looking in. I do see that view.

We purely set it up as the solicitor said (and it made sense to me) that it's best to set all this up ahead of time whilst my dad is of sound mind. It also takes the stress of sorting a lot of this stuff out down the line after my dad has passed away. The other way we looked at it was worse case scenario my dad dropped down dead from a heart attack out the blue....everything is set up to save me doing it after the event as I'm still grieving.

elsien

Have a read of this which explains deprivation of assets more clearly.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/siteassets/documents/factsheets/fs40_deprivation_of_assets_in_social_care_fcs.pdf

elsien

And this one. The local authority can’t just assume that the Trust was set up to avoid care costs, it has to be a bit more to it than that.

https://www.wilsonbrowne.co.uk/personal/care-home-fees2/care-funding-useful-guides/a-guide-to-deliberate-deprivation-of-assets/

However, I would also put on your radar if your dad pays for his own care it gives him more choices. How much a care home costs is not a guarantee of quality, but those within the local authority price brackets tend to offer a lot less outside of the basics.

Just for consideration should the both of you decide the Trust is no longer something that you want.

And obviously, you don’t have to answer this, but why is your end goal not to lose the house if it is no longer your home?

I know people talk about the family home and memories and things like that, but for most of us nowadays our parents and ourselves have moved a few times over the years so the long-standing family home that’s been there for donkeys years doesn’t really exist in the same way anymore.

bambam789

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82086295#Comment_82086295

Thank you for both your links. I've had a very quick look and they both look extremely helpful. I will have a read of them both tonight.

I did read the first one briefly and it's given me more confidence. It was set up 5 years ago when my dad was in good health and living on his own fine.

I may post on here tomorrow once I've read through the articles. Thank you again!

bambam789

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82086300#Comment_82086300

The reason I want to keep the house is two fold. One, it is the family home. My parents never moved so there is that sentimental side of things and two, (I'm being perfectly honest) the financial benefit for my own family. It would make a huge difference to our future.