Deprivation of assets

Rosieandjim · 18 May 2019 at 3:11PM

Following on from the thread 'What can my mum do with her money' I am fuming that if I wanted to give my adult children some money It could be seen as me depriving myself of assets.

However, when 2 relatives went into care I was told that if they could not afford the full care home costs I as a member of the family would have to make up the deficit this was said many times. As care becomes more expensive I dread to think how relatives can afford to do this?

So it is ok for me to deprive myself of assets for relatives going into care but not to give a gift to my own children. It does not make sense to me. Would the authorities be happy for me to say when I need care 'well I have no money left as I have had to pay towards xyz who needed care?' thoughts please

PasturesNew · 18 May 2019 at 3:17PM

Rosieandjim wrote: »

...

I think you've misunderstood the care situation/costs.

If somebody has no money and are funded the Council chooses the care home. This is because they have a "block booking" arrangement at a big list of care homes, where they pay a fixed fee. Somebody will be placed in "any home on that list that has a vacancy".

If you choose which home your relative goes into they'll pay the sum to the care home they'd have paid if they had a block booking with them - and then it's up to "somebody else" to pay the difference between what the (private) home charges and what the Council funding contributes. It might be that the person going into the care home has the money, or relatives might choose to pay the top ups.

Somebody with no money cannot choose to go into a home costing more, only a home on the "approved list". The Council will not put them in a home where it costs more as they are unable to do that.

Are you choosing a different care home to the one the Council are proposing?

Catswhiska · 18 May 2019 at 3:31PM

Nobody can be forced to pay Top Up Fees for a relative. It’s a matter of choice in the end

Gavin83 · 18 May 2019 at 5:12PM

Rosieandjim wrote: »

Following on from the thread 'What can my mum do with her money' I am fuming that if I wanted to give my adult children some money It could be seen as me depriving myself of assets.

However, when 2 relatives went into care I was told that if they could not afford the full care home costs I as a member of the family would have to make up the deficit this was said many times. As care becomes more expensive I dread to think how relatives can afford to do this?

So it is ok for me to deprive myself of assets for relatives going into care but not to give a gift to my own children. It does not make sense to me. Would the authorities be happy for me to say when I need care 'well I have no money left as I have had to pay towards xyz who needed care?' thoughts please

How old are you? If you aren't likely to need care for a while it really doesn't matter. It's also worth noting that most elderly people still don't need to go into a care home. A few years ago it was around 5%, I doubt it's gone up that much.

Also you don't have to pay towards your relatives care. PasturesNew did a good job of explaining it so I won't go over it again.

PasturesNew wrote: »

It might be that the person going into the care home has the money, or relatives might choose to pay the top ups.

Actually the person going into care can't pay their own top up fees, it has to come from elsewhere.

sheramber · 18 May 2019 at 8:23PM

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs10_paying_for_permanent_residential_care_fcs.pdf

onwards&upwards · 18 May 2019 at 8:37PM

Gavin83 wrote: »

Actually the person going into care can't pay their own top up fees, it has to come from elsewhere.

That’s crazy! What if you have plenty of money but no family?

Sea_Shell · 18 May 2019 at 8:44PM

I think you'd have to pay all your own private care fees, until you're down to your last £26k or so...then if you have no one else who agrees or able to pay, you get shoved somewhere cheaper by the local authority!!!

Keep_pedalling · 18 May 2019 at 9:10PM

onwards&upwards wrote: »

That’s crazy! What if you have plenty of money but no family?

In which case you will be self funding all your care, so no top up required.

Keep_pedalling · 18 May 2019 at 9:18PM

If giving assets away risks ending up in an over my dead body care home then don’t give it away. Ideally you will have saved sufficient over the years to give some away and keep enough back for a comfortable old age.

Self funders have one big advantage over everyone else and that is choice, something I will never be prepared to give up.

AnotherJoe · 18 May 2019 at 9:52PM

Rosieandjim wrote: »

Following on from the thread 'What can my mum do with her money' I am fuming that if I wanted to give my adult children some money It could be seen as me depriving myself of assets.
Well, "some money" covers a multitude of scenarios. Might be £5,000 or £500,000. And is that out if your last £500k or do you have £5M still left. And did you mean "money " or did you give them your house (but continue to live in it?).
However, when 2 relatives went into care I was told that if they could not afford the full care home costs I as a member of the family would have to make up the deficit this was said many times. As care becomes more expensive I dread to think how relatives can afford to do this?
That's either a lie by the council or you misunderstood.

So it is ok for me to deprive myself of assets for relatives going into care but not to give a gift to my own children. It does not make sense to me.
Well, if you do DYOA by paying for a care home for a third party it wouldn't matter because they can't take them back in the same way they could if, for example your gave your children a house to live in. However its a moot point since you have no obligation to pay for anyone to go into care, not even spouse..

Would the authorities be happy for me to say when I need care 'well I have no money left as I have had to pay towards xyz who needed care?' thoughts please

It wouldn't matter if they were happy would it, it would be a fait accompli.

fred246 · 18 May 2019 at 11:21PM

I had an elderly relative in a care home. They paid £700 a month because they had savings. The council paid £500 a month for exactly the same accomodation for people without savings. I used to come on this forum and people would say those without money would have awful care. It was a dementia home and I used to look around at the residents. None of them would have had a clue where they were or how much it cost. I always wonder how many people are unhappy in homes because they didn't have savings. They would have to be mentally well and unhappy with their care. My view is that I am going to enjoy life while I am well and I will take the risk of ending up in a lower quality home. The chance of being in a home is decreasing all the time as home carers are provided increasingly.

Deprivation of assets

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