Care homes abroad?

You don't say which country you have in mind for abroad.

Yep, care homes in the UK can be £1.5 k a week, week in week out. Should point out the usual - that if you don't have Lasting Power of Attorney in Health and Welfare - and also Finance quite likely - you may not be allowed to do this if you leave it a while, however if he has mental capacity and can make this decision himself then it may be okay. Legally, I don't know if LPA works when someone is abroad, whether it carries legal weight anyhow.

If you put him in a UK care home frankly the chances of being allowed to move him to one abroad - well, it's unlikely they will let you. It depends. If he is self-funding they can actually get in touch with Social Services and they will join forces to stop you, saying it is against his 'Best Interests' - this means, they will do what they want to do and say it is in his Best Interests, it is like waving a badge. Many Social Services in my experience - Surrey, I mean - are wholly corrupt and will side with the care home in all things. As your Dad's house is subsidising Council-funded residents, they may be reluctant to play ball. And if you don't have LPA, you are simply not the decision maker for his care, they are. Not saying this will happen - but even if you do have LPA, the Council - often akin to the Mafia - can do what they please and just act as if you don't.

I'm not saying this worst-case scenario is a given though I'd also say in this case, to be fair, it may even be in his 'best interests' to eat up his savings in a nice UK care home even if he doesn't deserve it, it can all get a bit Crime and Punishment at this point. UK care homes are only loosely regulated under the Conservative Govt - it's into deregulation as a whole, to allow businesses to fleece the unsuspecting public and make a fortune. Is it better elsewhere? I don't know.

I think it sounds a really sensible decision.

Just the phrase '£6.5k a month' (I hope that's a typo) would have me considering other options. That's a lifetime's savings every six months, for someone who hasn't saved a penny even though they could have done.

For him, his mother tongue and childhood culture is almost certainly going to be easier all round. Great idea.

My very loved and treasured grandmother is originally from a European country and has been here a similar amount of time. Diagnosed with dementia about 12 years ago and I have lived and taken care of her for the last 8. We are making the difficult decision to move her to her home country where she wants to be surrounded by people that speak her mother tongue, whilst she is fluent in English (was an English teacher) as the years have gone on she reverts back more to her native language especially if she is distressed. We live very rurally so she doesn’t have much interaction apart from myself and partner outside her day centre 4 days a week. Whilst the cost wasnt the main factor it is significantly cheaper than here and there are less staffing concerns and the home we are thinking of is in her village. It’s a very difficult decision for us but ultimately I believe it is the best thing for her and my mum and I will visit every month.