Care home fees

Lesliei2005 · 2 August 2017 at 9:32AM

Hi all - this is my first post here, so please be gentle to me!

My dad is about to move into a care home. His assets are around £50k in the bank, plus he owns his flat, worth about £150k. He recently updated his will, to equal shares between my brother and I. The big question now is obviously what can be done to avoid the £50k and potentially the £150k going on care home fees?

Thanks for any advice.
Les

AnotherJoe · 2 August 2017 at 9:34AM

Reclines chair, sits back, opens popcorn...

Catswhiska · 2 August 2017 at 9:41AM

Nothing at all

xylophone · 2 August 2017 at 9:42AM

My dad is about to move into a care home. His assets are around £50k in the bank, plus he owns his flat, worth about £150k. He recently updated his will, to equal shares between my brother and I. The big question now is obviously what can be done to avoid the £50k and potentially the £150k going on care home fees?

Thanks for any advice.

See and read carefully http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Factsheets/FS10_Paying_for_permanent_residential_care_fcs.pdf?dtrk=true

In basic terms, unless your father is eligible for fully funded care on health grounds, he will need to meet the cost of the fees until his capital is reduced to a prescribed level.

If this means that eventually there is very little for you and your brother to inherit, that's just one of those things.

It might be worth looking into an immediate needs annuity.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/immediate-need-care-fee-payment-plans

https://ukcareguide.co.uk/immediate-care-annuity/

You could seek advice.

https://societyoflaterlifeadvisers.co.uk/

badmemory · 2 August 2017 at 10:59AM

That would depend if his income is sufficient to pay for the home. If not he has £50k in savings (for a rainy day). Frankly it is going to start chucking it down. Does he have both powers of attorney in place? If not that would be a good place to start.

If he has any trace of dementia, expect to see initial deterioration. This is normal & can be caused by any change to the norm. A short period in hospital particularly can cause a rapid deterioration.

Good luck if you are hoping to get a diagnosis which will cost the NHS money, not much chance of getting a dementia diagnosis either even if every doctor you see asks why there isn't one.

OldMusicGuy · 2 August 2017 at 11:11AM

Lesliei2005 wrote: »

The big question now is obviously what can be done to avoid the £50k and potentially the £150k going on care home fees?

Either you or your brother can look after him at one of your homes. That's the easiest way of "avoiding" paying care home fees. If you don't want to do that, accept the fact that your dad is going to have to fund his own care unless there are valid medical reasons why the state should provide support.

Don't get taken in by "wealth management" organizations offering to help avoid these fees, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39589083

dunstonh · 2 August 2017 at 11:13AM

The big question now is obviously what can be done to avoid the £50k and potentially the £150k going on care home fees?

As said already, you cannot.

Its too late and even if it wasnt, there is a world of difference between local authority care and private care.

I am sure you are not suggesting you want to prioritise your inheritance over your father's quality of life. However, even if you were, it is too late to do anything about it now.

xylophone · 2 August 2017 at 11:30AM

there is a world of difference between local authority care and private care.

If the LA/NHS are having to use a privately run home ( as presumably many do as there seems to be a dearth of homes owned by LAs), then the level of care etc would be the same?

And the self funders are subsidising it.......?

https://www.ft.com/content/6c61fa30-f1dc-11e6-8758-6876151821a6

le_loup · 2 August 2017 at 11:33AM

Lesliei2005 wrote: »

The big question now is obviously what can be done to avoid the £50k and potentially the £150k going on care home fees?

Is it obvious?
What would you like to happen?

dunstonh · 2 August 2017 at 12:30PM

If the LA/NHS are having to use a privately run home ( as presumably many do as there seems to be a dearth of homes owned by LAs), then the level of care etc would be the same?

In our area we still have some local authority homes. However, they do also use private homes. Typically the private homes will either have a wing that is of lower standard or rooms that are smaller and less furnished.

The quality of care is little different as its the same staff typically. It is the living standards within the facility where differences show. The private funding can buy things that the local authority funding will not. Although LA care within a private home is almost certainly better than an old LA home (again focusing on facilities) and that does mean is likely that some cross subsidy does exist.

PasturesNew · 2 August 2017 at 12:38PM

The home where my mum lived was a mix of local authority funded people and private paying people. She paid. There was no difference whatsoever in the rooms or care or anything between the two. The everyday staff didn't know who was paying and who wasn't (although if you were that interested you could work it out over time from a variety of good guesses).... usually from the odd piece of conversation overheard by family members, or family members being overheard discussing the annual fees increase with the office staff etc.

Where mum was started off at £500/week - this increased as "needs changed", whereas the local authority paid a "flat rate" £400/week. At that time, if you were somebody needing a lot of assistance for everything the cost would've been about £750/week for the private residents, with the local council still paying their flat rate.

Care home fees

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