How can I fund a home for Nanna?

TiggerSplash

Hi
We had the exact same thing with my gran. Firstly get poa as soon as. This will help in the long run. Secondly SPEND the money that is above the threshold - take her shopping, order over the internet - or make it appear so. Its unfair to her otherwise - why should the govt make her pay.

In regards to her house - as its not in a great state of repair - is there any poss she could sell it to you for under market share and then you could rent it out / sell it on for market value etc? We did that with my grans and it worked a treat. We then took that money and added an extension on to our home for her until she was too poorly to go into a home - where she didnt have much money left.

Have you thought about looking at homes that are closer to you?

Biggles

Spending £200,000 (or whatever) on a shopping spree? That would be some spree, can I come along? And, of course, the council wouldn't notice.... ;-)

I think you would be best advised to keep things simple, keep things legal(!) and have a talk to www.nhfa.co.uk about the immediate care needs annuity.

Rather than all her money draining away on care home fees (which is what the usual fear is), we find that Mum's money is now earning interest and accumulating as time goes on, as her day-to-day income and expenses balance out perfectly.

margaretclare

Biggles wrote: »

Spending £200,000 (or whatever) on a shopping spree? That would be some spree, can I come along? And, of course, the council wouldn't notice.... ;-)

I think you would be best advised to keep things simple, keep things legal(!) and have a talk to www.nhfa.co.uk about the immediate care needs annuity.

Rather than all her money draining away on care home fees (which is what the usual fear is), we find that Mum's money is now earning interest and accumulating as time goes on, as her day-to-day income and expenses balance out perfectly.

I agree with all of this.

It's difficult to imagine what kind of 'shopping spree' could realistically be indulged in by a lady recovering from a broken hip, a blood clot in a leg vein, losing her memory. Is it proposed to walk her down Oxford Street? Even shopping on the internet, if she hasn't been in the habit of buying online before, would look very odd. She might like a world cruise, but is her present state of health such that she could cope with this, and gain any enjoyment from it?

It doesn't sound to me as if her prognosis is at all good, for long-term health, mobility and independence. Given that, wouldn't it be better to concentrate on obtaining the best possible care and comfort for poor Nanna, rather than putting time and energy into spending her money for her, artificially to 'spend the surplus' and then get her into the cheapest home possible.

This is the kind of suggestion that I find absolutely chilling and reprehensible.

Margaret

bryanb

You haven't said whether your Nanna needs nursing care or just residential care, Has she been assessed for NHS funding? If her nursing care needs are high enough the NHS should pay.

Errata

I would second the sensible advice that everyone should ensure that what they do is legal. Not least because the houses that we talk about on this thread that may have to be sold to pay for the owner's care were often bought by them for just a few thousand pounds. Their loss in real terms is no loss at all, they will have laid out a few thousand pounds to gain a great many thousand pounds in care.
I'm sure someone will tell me I'm wrong, but an example would be a 3 bedroom semi in West London bought for £3.5k in the mid 60's now being worth in excess of £200k. Looking at things from this point of view, nobody is being robbed, people are fortunate that they've got some 'free' money.