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

Hi op - I agree with the comment that your FA may have advised moving assets into your dad’s name as he has mental capacity and saves you faffing around with PoA over mountains of your mum’s assets.

I just wanted to say I know how stressful and tiring it is providing care and working out how to plan for the costs. I’m sorry that people have come gunning for you with the assumption you are grasping for an inheritance.

On other more sympathetic threads it’s acknowledged what a lottery it is - some people have a parent that drops dead of a heart attack, but after years of expensive treatment for smoking- or weight-related illnesses maybe being unfit to work and pay taxes having done little or nothing to help themselves. At the other end you have families providing years of care for people with dementia and then finding that this very expensive kind of care right at the end of their lives drains away all the parent’s savings and assets.

People get very het up about it but the truth is truly wealthy people simply find their inheritance tax reduces, no sweat. And people with nothing don’t have to contribute. It’s the people in the middling wealth category that stand to lose out, which is the way it always is.

Once again this means we are pitting the poorest people against the people who have tried to claw their way out of poverty for the sake of future generations, through some luck and usually a lot of hard work too.

Hope you find a good answer to your issues.

I meant normally you CAN transfer between spouses!

When you say “will the LEA come for some of the money” did you mean to say “will the LEA ask them to pay some of the cost of their care”?

I have been through this with in-laws. No, you cannot have everything in the “non-Alzheimer’s” person’s name so the other gets free care. When your dm gets down to £23k there will be a full assessment of assets and, no, your df cannot be turfed out of the house, but a lien may be put in place. It would be not only unethical but would not get past the council to place everything in spouse’s name.

With mil, everything was in her name as she paid less tax. It was permitted to divide assets in half, but not to shove the whole lot over to fil, including house ownership. Obviously you cannot normally transfer between spouses, but when it comes to claiming benefits (including council-funded accommodation) the whole picture is looked at.

Our situation played out that dad went into care but outlived mum. This meant all of my mum's assets became his, he became full owner of the house, and these were all taken into account in the financial assessment.

Our situation was further complicated by my older brother being resident in the house upon my mum's death (he had been their carer). So although my dad fully owned the house the fact that a first degree relative over a certain age was resident meant that it wasn't initially part of the financial assessment. But, unfortunately, my brother died suddenly with my dad outliving everyone involved. So, the house became part of the financial assessment after all.

Please take advice there are many specialist IFA’s who deal in a long-term care advice and understanding of whether your parents house will be taken into account.

That's fine then. But obviously in reality the house was just as much hers as it was his so it should be sold to pay for her care when he passes.

Thank you. This was my understanding too yet when I put this question to the FA yesterday he said mum's side of the house would not be touched, if dad was to die first. I am sure he is wrong and why I do need to get this clarified by someone for my own peace of mind. - gosh! - that's not true!

If he leaves her his assets then they become hers and are taken into account.

Where has this FA put the assets? Whose name are they in? Who will they go to when he dies?

Honestly, at this difficult time I am sure you would find it easier to "play it straight" without all this underhand shenanigans - I do understand that this is coming from your Dad and not you.

I second looking at Beacon for CHC funding. This only applies if a very detailed set of medical/nursing needs are identified. It sounds as though your mother might qualify. Please get advice from Beacon on all this as I found that nurses/doctors etc. know very little about it and fill in the preliminary form wrongly - or give false advice. Often they will tell you it is only for the terminally ill, or you can only receive this while you are in a home - both are not true.

My late OH did get this funding on appeal after 2 refused applications. Beacon were very helpful with this. Their advice is free up to a certain length of time, so it is worth researching a bit before you speak to them so that you do not use up your time on info you could have found yourself.

For us it was a fight, at a time when I needed that like a hole in the head, whilst dealing with the trauma of my OH's illness.

They aren’t wrong though are they?

I'll judge away. I'm only too happy for my taxes to pay for care for people who aren't well off.

It was a question. Bit sensitive are we to people being questioned about their financial affairs when they're not poor?

I have been through all this for my late OH, and also as a social worker.

The Age UK site is excellent on all this.

Basically the LA will expect your mother to contribute based on her assets and income. They will not look at the assets of her husband - just hers while he is alive. BUT - they can look back on her assets and if they think that they were depleted/moved for the purpose of avoiding care fees then they can treat her as if she still had half of these.

In the event of your father dying, and presuming he leaves his assets to her, then all of these will be taken into consideration when assessing her contribution to care fees.

Exactly!

Unfortunately many people see an inheritance above everything else….why else would they set up trusts to protect wealth?

My mother was in a care home (dementia) for 7 years, firstly self funding then towards the end LA funded.

My understanding is that if your mum outlives your dad and inherits the house she would then have money over £23k (from the house sale). So from that point onwards, the LA would expect her to start self funding again.

As far as I know they wouldn't expect the 'money back' which they had paid for care before she inherited. AgeUK will know for sure.

If your mum dies before your dad, it is a non-issue, she never inherited the money.

But if your mother's funds run out and the LA want to move her to a different care home, would your dad really sit by and allow it? Surely he would offer a top up so she could stay in the original care home. The top up could be quite considerable.