Elderly GF suddenly needing care but possible deprivation of assets issue

I thought DOA limit was 7 years ? You say it was over 10 years ago when he was 83 . May not be an issue . Even if you had your home adapted to him I can't see how you could provide the care he needs on a FT basis . Don't feel bad if you have to make alternative arrangements for him. There are all sorts of scenarios , Care plans at home, respite , residential care etc..

I'd be letting my father and uncle know about the DOA situation and how it's about to blow up, and how they need to step up and care for their father at his home and cover his at-home care costs before SS come sniffing and they get landed with a substantial financial outlay. They may not care for him, but I bet they will care about the money

Anyone signing over their main residence at 83 years old would be deemed by Social Services to have tried to avoid care fees in a depravation of assets situation yes.

Ironically as your GF isn’t paying his sons rent this would be classed as a gift with reservations so there’s tax implications there.

Social Services can take weeks to assess someone who is being effectively cared for by family (you in this case, they will not care if this breaks you)
Your best bet is to get him to hospital for a check up and involve Social Services then, it’s actually the best chance your GF has of retaining his independence at home too.

Occupational health are a fantastic resource too.

Is your GF claiming Attendance Allowance?
And how dare his ungrateful sons take his house and stand back when he needs support.

Because you’ve taken him into your home, you’re going to need to be very firm and clear with social services. They will see that he is safe in your care and since that is also where your GF wants to be, be prepared for them to drag their heels in terms of looking for alternative provision. When my family was in a similar situation, we were put under a LOT of pressure to become the carers and were accused of not caring enough about the family member and not being willing to pull together as a family because we didn’t want them to live with us - despite the fact that we had no way of adequately catering for their needs.

That’s really good that that’s in place.

Bless you, they may recommend respite before the 8 weeks, it was the full care assessment that took that long.

It was a bit different as she was discharged from hospital to a care home after a heart attack at 91 (after living independently). The assessment was done within about 8 weeks I think and she was offered a permanent care place at that point. The financial assessment took longer. I would suggest getting an LPA in place if possible to deal with financial things at least.

The financial assessment took about 7 months as it was quite complicated with the property coming into question etc.

Just to say @ThisBreezySnake youre a star to be dealing with all this & GF is lucky to have you 💐

Your first port of call is a care assessment. Make sure they understand living with you is not sustainable long term.

Don’t worry about the deprivation of assets issue for now. What’s done is done & the local authority will need to go through their process

the important thing is to get him assessed. I know you say he’s sharp as a tack but bluntly a man who is urinating into bowls and pouring them down the sink & cannot see or does not want to see that living with his GD & family in a 2 bedroom house is a non starter is not perhaps as sharp as he once was

hes scared & he can’t think straight. He needs to go through all this was social services. If he does need a care home leave social services to have it out with your dad & uncle re deprivation of assets. They’re well used to doing it

You need to contact adult social care and make a referral and get some practical advice. I feel for you, it’s really hard. We had a very similar situation with my nan.

It is likely to be considered deprivation of assets.

sounds a terribly messy situation, sorry OP.

In the event of a care assessment you would need to declare that he signed the property over to his sons and the authority would want to know the reasons why. We had similar with a relative who had signed a property over 16 years prior. If he is still living in the property now I think it may be considered deprivation of assets and the authority may have grounds to include it in an assessment. This would only come into play if he needed a care home though and could not fund himself through the money in his bank account.

Has your GF got enough money to go into assisted living? There are some lovely places (well in my area) where people rent an apartment or bungalow but have access to alarm buttons etc. They all come with food options, socials etc - they are like fancy care homes but offer more independence. They so cost a bit per month though

The local authority can look as far back as they like. They would be curious to know of the arrangement made for signing the house over and the reasons behind this. Presumably your GF has not been paying his sons any rent? In terms of delays it would just be a case of how fast they could establish the facts of the situation. The care assessments etc take a long time regardless of this.

Don't let this stop you getting a care assessment however. It may be worth looking into home help car companies too as they may be able to provide care that allows him to stay at home. It's pricey but no where near as expensive as staying at a care home.

It's unlikely the local authority would consider it DOA.

Even if they did it would only matter if he went into a care home but there are lots of home care options they would look at first anyway.

Not that any of it will matter if he doesnt get some medical attention soon.