Person going into care home thinks they have avoided selling their house to pay fees?

Does he live with his partner ? Because if he hadn't complicated it with the son, if one of the cohabitants is still living in the house, it cannot be sold for care home fees.
eg My parents jointly own their home. If my mum needs to go into a nursing home then the home cannot be used in the financial assessment as it would still be dad's residence. I'm not sure what the situation is with unmarried couples but I imagine it would be the same.

Some of the replies on here are very sad indeed and heartbreaking. Sadly it’s not the first time I hear of such stories.
In my opinion, care homes should provide first class care and should be non profit organisation.
The whole model of care homes is so immoral, profiteering from the end of life care of desperate families whilst providing them with substandard service and taking their hard earned money and pocketing them.

Land registry records are a matter of public record, and the LA can have access to stamp duty records. They also have council tax records, voting register records, etc., again going back years/decades. It's not that hard to find out if someone previously owned a house and any ownership changes of the house a person lived in immediately before going into a home. It's basically an hour (or less) of a council officer's time to get the full picture of the house ownership over time, and the person's history of house ownerships.

As someone who used to work in Adult Care, I came across more than a few. It’s very real.

I agree it’s terrible that you work all your life to own your home and then have to sell if you go into care (dependent upon circumstances) however what I will say is money gives you choice in which care home, meaning you do not go to one that charges the council the least at the time!

Is it in a trust? Does his partner still live in the property? If so it would be disregarded anyways…
councils can look back as far as they see fit, common rule is did they do it when the person had care needs I.E package of care at home etc.

My grandad went into a home, my gran was still living in the house. My parents got legal advice and my Gran was able to leave her half to my dad (only child) and then the other half had to go to the council when my gran died.

My Gran dies first so my dad has to buy out my grandads half so it could go on care fees… my grandad actually died a few weeks later so my dad got the whole house in the end. I should note whilst my gran was alive my grandad didn’t have to pay any care home fees as their income was so low. It was only when my gran died that they could put a charge on their house but there is a 12 week grace period which my grandad died within hence why there was no charge.

Basically the solicitor said no way can you just put the house fully into my Gran or my dads name as that’ll be deprivation of assets.

Ladyluck13 You and your mother must draw up a will where it stats that you are tenants in common* that means that you own half the property and your mother the other half.
The house can not be sold until you die because obviously you can’t sell/ buy half a house.

If you give you house to someone and move out, or give it to them and pay the market rate in rent then it is a genuine gift. If he then continued to live there rent free then he maintained an interest in the property and it is open to challenge.

But why, you are removing any element of choice as to where you go if you do need care. Obviously if you don’t have mental capacity you may not know or care but if you are well mentally would you not rather be able to choose somewhere better?

Some of these stories are heartbreaking. Personally, I'd like to see ALL care homes being provided for free, paid for with much higher taxes by those earning enough.

And the very rich avoid paying tax etc ALL THE TIME - yet they get away with it. But, the average person has to play by the rules? Haha, no.

Personally, I’d rather hand over my house to my children and they use it to rent e.g. generate money or split it equally amongst themselves. I don’t see the point in funding care for myself when I’m near the end of my life and let’s say I went into a home, wasting my life savings (e.g. house on 2 years care), what if I run out of money then what? I’ll have to go into a state run care home. I’ll most likely be really sick, have illnesses and other things - I’d rather be euthanised but it’s illegal in the UK.

When my mum had to go in a care home, it was made very clear to me by the social worker that they would go back 'as far as necessary' if there was any concern re: deprivation of assets. I was on tenterhooks because my mum had given me about £20k for house rennovations about 6 months prior to me realising that her mind was going, about 18 months at the point where she could no longer manage alone. There is no way I could have found that money if they had considered it deprivation of assets - and I don't think they'd have been unreasonable to take that view given how close it was to her diagnosis. She died, however, prior to all the money being spent, so it was never tested.

This is a worry of mine. I have lived with my mother for 15 years (after my father died, and at her request) and I am a lone parent, and I consider this mine and my child's home too, and have put lots of money into it. I am going to caring for my mother as she ages obviously, but I'm also scared that me and my child are going to be homeless if my mother has to go into a home in the future, and the house has to be sold. Theres no chance I can afford a mortgage if she tries to sell to me either..

A friends’ father went into a dementia specialist care home at the age of 91 after his condition declined rapidly. Care home fees well over £5000 a month. He has just been admitted to hospital. The care home called an ambulance after a carer came to get him out of bed one morning and found him in severe pain. The attending physician found a number of severe injuries which the home can’t explain, and a nasty, untreated chest infection. The home have closed ranks at the suggestion of an investigation and made ongoing communication very difficult. Clearly sub standard care, lack of regard for the safety of those in their charge, and no evidence of any attempt to obtain medical treatment for what is clearly a long standing infection. And all of this in return for £5000+ a month. And mumsnetters are still outraged that people try to sidestep having to sell everything they own to pay for such low standards.

But you are ok with me and my family effectively paying your fees then whilst you avoid them? I

If they are tenants in common in their wills the authorities can’t take her half share of the property.

There was an eviction case a few years ago, whereby mother transferred ownership to her daughter, presumably to avoid care home fees. However there was a big fall out and daughter got the mother evicted so she could sell the property! All went to court and daughter won the case. It was morally wrong but nobody knows what could happen between families some years down the line!

Until it finally gets too much she goes into a him and he loses the house anyway. It’s a bit of a gamble.

I know of a friend of a friend who has basically decided to be full time carer to his mum who has dementia until she dies in order to keep the house.

He can't go out without her unless he gets a carer in. It's not a life I'd choose but he's 50 single no kids no house and a patchy career so I guess he sees it as the least worst option

Frankly, I'd sooner jump (or wheel myself) off a cliff rather than have to sell my house to pay to sit in the circle of hell in a crap care home. Interestingly, here, the council care homes are much better than the private homes. But none of them is a remotely good way to end a life - and pay a fortune for it as well. Death is definitely preferable. Pray that you get cancer. Then you might finish up in a hospice, instead of paying a fortune to big business for substandard care. I don't know why more people aren't outraged by the lack of decent social care for the elderly. Or decent pay and career structures for those looking after them. Yet another way in which the UK has lost the plot.

It’s deprivation of assets. It’s the oldest trick in the books. They won’t get away with it.

The trouble is once those modest funds have gone your parents could very well end up in a worse care home. I care for my mum in my home, she has a modest property but it would last a year in a nice home then she’d be at square one, no funds to stay in a nice home and probably sent to a much lesser one. That really worries me but thankfully I can care for her as long as possible, hopefully never having to go into a home. If she does have to go into one at some point I’ll make sure it’s the best her modest funds can provide.

If the adult sold their house and moved in with the adult child they would have paid for any care in the community. If the adult child is the carer then nothing to pay. She could have spent all the money or gifted some money. By yhe time she goes jnto a xare home she was below yhe threshold and didn't pay. Happens alot.