Poe(father In Home)

tezmac

Hello everyone,my father has been in a home for about 6 weeks,but was in hospital for 5 months before then,so myself and my brother had to find his bank books to keep paying the bills.That was not a problem because he could sign withdraw slips then but he is unable to do that now.Anyway some one come to see my brother about his fiances and he told them what we thought he had.About a week ago we were given the date to hand the keys in on his house(council)so we have been sorting everything out at his house and we have found another bank book with 30,000+ in,the problem is do we tell someone about this bank book are do we say nothing as we know they will take most of it off him in payments for his care.Sorry for such a long post but any help would be much appreicated.
Thanks
Terry.

tanith

Not something you can keep quiet about , it would be fraud and they would eventually find out... if you father has the money why do you think he should not pay for his care? that way he has the choice to get more than a basic care package and his money will be put to good use giving him a better quality of life in his remaining years....do the right thing....

poe.tuesday

I thought this thread was about me ;-)

Oldernotwiser

Use his money to pay for his care, otherwise it's theft from your father and theft from the state.

floss2

And by using the money that he has saved to pay for his future needs, you are doing what he wanted - and you will be able to pay for a more comfortable life for him. After all, he has earnt it and saved it for this purpose.....and could you look him in the face knowing that you have deprived him of comfort?

celyn90

The money belongs to your father and should be used in its entirety to provide him with the best quality of life that it can give and to make him as comfortable as it it can. I'm sorry if it sounds harsh, but I find these feelings of entitlement to the proceeds of the hard work of others rather sad really.

floss2

Apart from anything else, you need to speak to the DWP to ensure your father is getting all the benefits he is entitled to, and you need to remember that it is only his savings over £22k (approx) that will go towards paying for his care.

Also, if he is in a council house, what are the prosepcts of him coming home? Do you need to talk to him about the possibility of giving his house up or will you continue to pay rent & bills on an empty house.......and keep a family from renting it?

margaretclare

Also, if he is in a council house, what are the prosepcts of him coming home? Do you need to talk to him about the possibility of giving his house up or will you continue to pay rent & bills on an empty house.......and keep a family from renting it?

The OP explained this in post #1 - they've been given a date to hand back the keys to the council house dad formerly occupied. So there's no possibility of him returning home to live independently.

To be fair to the OP, it sounds as if they didn't know about dad's savings amounting to £30,000. And again to be fair to the OP (Terry) there are people who save, but not for their own 'rainy day', but to hand money on to the next generation! Some people in fact 'scrimp and scrape' just for that purpose. We had a visit from a Pensions Service lady some time ago because they couldn't understand why we weren't claiming pension credit, and this lady said that she's encountered older people who won't put the heating on because 'I'm saving money for the children' - I quote her words.

Dad's intentions and wishes are not known here, whether he saved for himself or for someone else.

Having said all that, I agree with the others - if it was my money I would expect it to be used for the best possible care and comfort in what remained to me of life. I am a dedicated SKI-er, you see!

haylibo

If your father has gone into a home for social care reasons, then he is liable to use his savings. If, however, his needs are medical/health then he isn't although you may have to fight it - most LAs will try to ensure they (the LA) don't pay.
Contact Help the Aged or Age Concern for more help, it's an area currently under the spotlight.