If a parent goes into a care home will the LA come for some of the money from the sale of their house?

Yes, we looked on the fact of being able to self-fund, for both FiL and my DM, as something of a ‘luxury’. It meant we could choose the time and place both times, and were not dependent on the tender mercies of permanently overstretched SS, who we had never needed to involve at all.

I’m surprised the unpleasant posters on here are happy that you get better care homes if you have more money, usually people think this is terrible and everyone should get the same regardless of ability to pay.

I don’t think anyone saw this coming, particularly 80 year olds, and I imagine they would’ve lived their lives very differently if they knew that all their assets would be sold to fund care until they passed. I certainly would think it would’ve been more holidays and less investments anyway whilst they could’ve enjoyed it.

Op find a care home that suits your mum and let go. If your dad got dodgy advice let the la and the solicitor fight it out. Best of luck.

My DM was similar. She went on to 97, the last years with advanced Alzh., but no other health issues. Her very good dementia-only care home was well able to manage her care.

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What a bore. Fact is taxpayers pay for care of someone who avoided paying. Facts are important.

I must have completely misunderstood the comment of yours I was replying to.

But things can be arranged so that the assets of husband and wife are separate and it's only the assets of the person needing care that will be taken into account.

Sure, but only if the arrangements were made before there was a reasonable expectation of perhaps needing care in the future.

I'm not quite sure by what you mean by "in favour of an inheritance". If a person has assets above the £20k or £25k or whatever it is, the local authority won't fund care for them. Suppose Mr Smith dies without ever having been in a home and he and Mrs Smith are tenants in common. Mr S can leave his half of the house to their child (or whoever). Then when Mrs S dies that half becomes theirs. But if the widowed Mrs S becomes in need of residential care and she's above the asset threshold, it won't be funded. So the house would be sold and her half of the cash would go on the fees. But they couldn't touch the other half.

Mrs Smith having to draw on her half can't be avoided. Nobody can just opt out of paying for care, if they have the assets, on the grounds that they want to leave the assets to their kids (or whoever). But things can be arranged so that the assets of husband and wife are separate and it's only the assets of the person needing care that will be taken into account.

Ok, thank you for that info.

That's no longer the case. There's no time frame for assessing assets.

It’s £1,750 per week pretty much across the board here, extra if nursing care is needed. The PP doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about. Unfortunately she’s chosen to make that clear by making unpleasant posts on this thread

In what way does that make sense? In my area the cheapest care home is around £1000/week and we are not in an expensive area. There is no way my family could afford to pay that.

You can if a life interest in possession trust is set up at the same time as the couple being made tenants in common, but before any diagnosis is made. Reading between the lines, it seems that this type of trust was created in this situation that OP outlines. I think the FA and solicitor that OP's father has used have been a bit crap because if I'm correct about this trust being used it was very silly for it to have been created after OP's mother was diagnosed with dementia. LA's know all the tricks people use to get out of paying care home fees and can go through medical records, trust creation records, bank statements and land registry information.

In France relatives are expected to pay for parents care home fees when their own funds are depleted -which does make sense, rather than relying on taxpayer.

How is this going to be paid for and for how long can it be afforded? Is a hugely important question to ask when thinking and planning long term care, especially residential care.

This is something my DB and I have worried about and continue to worry about for our DM. The question of what happens when the money runs out is a difficult one.

Will the LA step in and pay so that the person can stay where they are settled? Or will the family be expected to top up fees? This could easily be £££s per week. Or will they be expected to move their relative to somewhere cheaper and less suitable?

I will be brutal and say that I am hoping DM dies before we get to that point. And before anyone suggests it, we won't be inheriting whatever is left of DM's estate.

But you can’t avoid care home fees in favour of an inheritance?

If a couple are tenants in common rather than joint tenants, each person can leave their half to their child or whoever they want; the recipient can't benefit from it in any way while the other parent is still alive, but the local authority can't touch it for care fees.

That would be incredibly unusual. Most people don’t use a financial advisor for these things though, the LA do their own financial assessment so you might find what he tells you differs from what will actually happen.

You should check whether the property is owned as joint tenants or tenants in common as well OP. Doesn't affect things now, but it does affect what happens when the first one dies, whether their share automatically goes to the other or if they can will it to someone else (if anything is left).

The LA will ignore the asset of Mum's share of the house as long as your Dad is living in it. After that it will be included in the calculations - i.e. if he dies and the property is left to your mum, it will be considered an asset belonging to her.

If he goes into a home the expectation is that the house will be sold and his share will count as his asset, and hers as hers - both will be taken into account when calculating their contribution to care fees - realistically they will each have to pay the full fee till their assets dwindle.

I put this question to the FA this week and he said no, the house will never be touched for care home fees, even once dad has died he said if mum's investments fall below £23,250 the LA will cover all costs and not include mum's side of their house.

We don't know how things have been set up by your parents (well, your dad) so the solicitor may know more than us.

But I am not sure why your are so worried about it, because you say you are not worried about your inheritance, and that is the only thing it would affect - how much there is left to inherit.

You are also worrying about something several steps ahead. For it to be an issue your mother would have to outlive her funds, and then also outlive your dad. I know how stressed you must be having cared for your mother for so long, but worrying about this particular issue is pointless, what will happen will happen, there is nothing you can do about it.

I wish you all the best finding a good care home for your mother, I hope she lives out her days comfortably.

Oh well that's quite different from your other posts.

If you want to support your parents then a sound knowledge of their financial situation is needed. I don't think MN can advise you on what might happen down the line if you don't have a clear picture of where all his and her assets are etc.

I think you need a FA with specialist knowledge about care homes and local authority practices.

Of course what he did was entirely legal and above board.

It may however come to light when/of your Mother moves to a care home and they enquire about how her place will be financed.

The fact her assets were moved to your father's name after her diagnosis will have implications. What were the FA's reasons for moving your Mother's assets into your Father's name?

A lovely old chap who visited his wife every day at my DM’s (dementia) care home, told me that the costs of her care were being ‘rolled up’ and would be claimed by the LA from the sale of their house, after he either died or needed himself to move to a care home.
They had no children, and he was perfectly happy with this.