Help with calculating care home fees

I never said it did🙄

She needs capacity for you to get POA

Surely the trustees would agree to the sale of the house if she goes into a home? Just leaving it empty seems ridiculous. So I'd get the trustees on side, sell the house, get a good IFA to get maximum return on her £400k.

I understand the house can't be sold but could it be rented out. My mums was rented out when she had to go into a care home. It took a lot of effort and we made the decision to let an estate agent manage the property. Yes a cost occurs in that case but they ensure all bills are paid, references are checked, they also carry out regular checks to ensure the tenant is looking after the property and if something needs fixing, they will arrange and use one of their trusted contractors ( after getting the ok from us first).

But yes where is the 4500 going each month? Is she already funding full time carers?

She has assets of at least 400k
She has ££££ pension

So
Assume self funding
Claim attendance allowance
Speak to the trustees sell the house put her 400k in bank and Interest plus her pension plus attendance allowance should cover most of the fees each month Slowly eating into capital

It’s not in the slightest bit unusual. If you are supported partly or fully by the LA, you are not allowed to receive Attendance Allowance, but if you are fully self funded it is normal to claim it.

It’s unusual to claim attendance allowance when a resident in a care home.

Not for self funders.

It’s unusual to claim attendance allowance when a resident in a care home.
Do they have savings with an income like that?
I would contact Adult care. It’s the only way to go unless she will be self-funding care.
The amount left after fees etc left to spend in my local authority is £20 a week. But I don’t know if that is a national figure.
Without a financial assessment it is impossible to know what her contribution would be.

I was just wondering what on earth sort of job they must have done to end up with a pension of £4500 a month. That's a huge pension!

I agree, that's a huge pension! I think that it equates to around £70 000 a year 😮

I don't understand why your DM has no savings with a pension of £4,500 per month. That's substantially more than I earn working full-time!

Is her pension currently also being squirrelled away somewhere to avoid IHT and care home fees? If not, then how on earth is she managing to spend all that money every month?

And I would expect that the trustees would be required to comply with the sale of the property to fund care home fees, and if they don't do that then fees will have to be found elsewhere. The tax-payer should not be expected to fund care when significant capital assets are available.

Second the advice to get an adult social care assessment, which will also precipitate a financial assessment. I have no direct experience of trusts, but if it was set up with care home fees in mind, there is no time limit for councils to consider this a deliberate deprivation of assets (unlike IHT). So if you want the local authority to commission your relatives care, they will do the financial assessment and may rule out contributing anything from the council tax payer due to your relative owning half of a property, and potentially on the basis of the full value of the property if the council find it was “given away” in a deliberate attempt to deprive assets.

If family is already prepared to pay any fees over and above your relatives pension then it may be easier to not involve the local authority and just be “private”. And as others have said, “nursing” homes are those that provide elements of medical care over and above personal care. Dementia patients often require lots of personal care assistance, but requiring nursing care is relatively rare. However, if your relative has a condition that makes needing nursing care more likely in the future, then choosing a facility that can do both will be better for continuity of care, and your relative would then move between units if needed.

Funding policy …..in my local authority there are a list of those homes that are able to accept top ups …..far more won’t…..my friend pay 525 a week top up for her mum ( from the sale of her home)…..the alternative would be a home with a shit Cqc rating…that stinks of piss when you go in…..her words not mine🤷

@KittensSchmittens sorry, you’re right - not sure how I missed that! Your local authority can still give you advice and support though.

But fuck me…..you gonna put the relatives well being first…surely? …..

Not all homes will accept a top up…so say you want you relative to go to a home that’s doesn’t accept them….you would have to ask the trustees to sell the house….I mean trustees are usually people who have the persons best interests at heart?

All depends on the wording of the trust. If the trust is I presume left to family members from the death of your mother's husband then it would be expected that once she's no longer living there then it's sold to pay for fees as it's empty, alternatively a charge can be put on it. However if her pension covers most of it renting the property out could be an alternative solution

Hi, your first step is to contact the local Council’s Adult Social Care department and ask for an assessment. They will assess your mother’s eligible care needs and also carry out a financial assessment. It sounds like your mother may be eligible for local authority funding, she may just have to pay a contribution towards the costs based on what she can afford. This would be in relation to the Residential care element of your mother’s placement. Nursing care (an additional £235.88 per week on top of the applicable Residential rate) is funded by your local Integrated Care Board. This will all be explained to you by the allocated social worker. Also have a read of this booklet:
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs38_property_and_paying_for_residential_care_fcs.pdf