Am I right that most elderly people must self-fund care if they have assets?

For anybody who is thinking about how their elderly patients possible.mursing home care will be funded.

And they haven't made a Will and
If they have assets and own their own home

Get in touch with a Solicitor and talk about Trusts, Minimising Inheritance Tax and Tenants in Common.

Lots of Smoke and Mirrors and crafty manoeuvres around these type of legal shaninghams.
How to avoid Deprivation of Assets without really trying?

Sorry to hear about your Mother's poor health. You sound very caring, and you are certainly doing the best you can for her.

Best Wishes
🙏🫰
X

CHC is only for if you have medical needs. Any dementia does not count as medical, unfortunately. My mum has vascular dementia but unfortunately she has no other medical problems. Yes, it is unfortunate, as I would rather she had a huge heart attack rather than years of slow decline, which i am dreading.
I am now in the position of having to sell her property to pay for her care home. I find it annoying because she has paid tax all her life, went back to work full time when I was 6 weeks old, and paid off her mortgage as a single mother. But, that's the way it is. The property funds will go on care fees and at least she will be safe and looked after.

You are correct. However if your father is still alive ask him to consult his lawyer and ask them about a life interest trust in his will. It puts his one half share in trust for your mum on his death and ring fences at least one half share of the house for you and your sister from care home fees. This is not a lifetime asset protection trust (run far away from these things!) but it is at least a half way house to preserve some cash from being swallowed entirely by care home fees. It also doesn't fall foul of the CRAG rules on care home fees. Ps if you are in Scotland, you can and should get an element of free care but it is no where the £1k a week you are currently paying. Either way while your dad is in the house the value of the house should be disregarded for care home fees financing. Also the council will look at taking half of what is in joint bank accounts so if your dad gets more income than your mum, consider redirecting his income into a dole account in his name. Long story short - consult an estate planning/private client solicitor to make sure you are claiming what you should be and that your father's assets are protected. Look up the Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners for a specialist solicitor local to you

Most elderly people paid taxes all their working days. It's awful they are charged for it.

Continuing healthcare is almost impossible to get! My father was on end of life care, totally bedridden, totally incontinent, unable to feed himself or even hold cutlery or a drink, unable to swallow tablets and had rapid onset dementia (20weeks) leaving him not knowing me or my mum and they said because he was stuck in bed and was compliant ( I kept telling him to be good and do as he was told), he qualified for nothing! His RAF training meant he knew to follow instructions and his love for me made him do what I asked. He died 4 weeks later.
The assessment for continuing healthcare is a joke and even the care home were shocked he did not qualify. As I left I made a point of telling him to give them hell but he was too much of a gentleman to be a nuisance to anyone!

The council will normally pay as a type of loan then recoup from the proceeds of the house

You’re correct, their home won’t need to be sold now to cover the costs but it will need to be sold in the future to cover the costs .
The threshold is low right now .
When my mum was in a care home she was self funding but as soon as her assets depleted to a certain level ( I’d sold her house ) the local council part paid .
So when she passed away there was very little left in her bank and no other assets .
That is sad but also is ok because the home looked after her well for her last years .

Can I ask how it works if family do not have immediate access to a parents cash? What if it takes time to sort out selling assets? If the family do not have access to a few thousand a month how does it work?

I could have written this but my mum did get funding. She was in a nursing home for almost 8 years and it was paid for. She died late 2023. I wonder what was so different about her situation?

Yes ... the main info is on gov website. The basic tool shows you the sort of criteria they use so you can get some idea of whether someone qualifies. But really worth talking to Beacon because they will give you free advice on the best way to proceed to stand the best chance of getting it. www.beaconchc.co.uk I would not have got it for my late OH without their help.

The markers for the CHC assessment are on the gov website. The DST document gives the most detail. It's worth looking into, a fair few people with dementia do get it. It sounds like your mum wouldn't be at the threshold yet if she can be safely cared for at home without medical staff. However, if her cognition deteriorated to the point she was doing really dangerous things and she started displaying challenging behaviours she may get it. It does need to be severe, one example I can think of where CHC was granted was someone who needed 2:1 support because he was assaulting others with no warning sign of escalation and he had zero awareness of risk, he would just walk into a busy road, try and drink boiling water etc.

Continuing Health Care.

Unless your Kim qualifies for CHC funding (and it’s worth fighting for) then her assets will be used to funded her care until she falls below the threshold of around 23500

Your mother should be assessed financially on her own assets and income, not joint assets. If you are really stuck look up the society of later life advisers ( SOLLA)
They will have advisers in your area who can help you sort out what your mother's financial responsibilities are in this instance.

Also dp mother lived on her own in an apartment
she went into care when family couldnt cope any
longer. She had Alzheimer's, she was funded until her apartment was sold. Then she had to pay herself. She then later also hit continued care until she passed.
West Cheshire

TBH it's those who were in poorly paid jobs who are most likely to end up funded by the state. The cleaners, carers, retail workers etc. not those who earned a good salary and pissed it away.

my fil had continued care vascular dementia which was paid for, he didn’t have savings to the amount of 23k but had an annuity with 37k (which he left to his children after his death)
His wife stayed in the house (400k) she is now also in a home with psychotic dementia, she has continual care and her son (who was her carer ) lives in the bungalow.
Their borough is Cheshire

Not saying I disagree but interested in your. Views on the equity of a system that allows the following

2 couples both earn the same amount each year. Couple 1 do t go on many holidays / don’t eat out much and save as much as they can to buy a house and pay off their mortgage. The house appreciates and they have a significant asset
couple 2 spend a lot on holidays / nights out / smoking etc . They never quite save a deposit so pay rent their whole lives.
why should the taxpayer form the continuing healthcare of couple 2 - and why are couple 1 penalised for saving nd being frugal ?

If someone is assessed for and awarded Continuing Healthcare Funding (CHC) their fees are paid by health authority funding without the need for personal contribution.

If you have medical needs, it's the NHS who assess, not SS.

My mum had dementia and had to fund her own care for the 10 months she was in her care home as she had too much in savings and a house to sell. The nurses applied for continuing care funding about half way through, but it was refused because her care needs weren’t deemed to be high enough. The final week of her life was covered retrospectively because by then she was ill enough that she needed a greater level of care.

You need to apply for continuing care. This is for people who need nursing care rather than residential care. It sounds as though mum might be eligible and it is non means tested.

If I had my time over I would use a solicitor to get paid care if it's for medical reasons. SS just say "no" as a matter of course.