to wonder how much inheritance

[hubgryhorse]

You need before you can safely assume you’ll still get a chunk despite potential care home fees? I read all the time on here that you shouldn’t rely on it etc etc and nasty comments are made about how you must be hoping your relatives dies 🤔

I always thought most people had an idea of what they may expect later on, whilst knowing there’s no guarantee for all sorts of reasons!

But with estates of 500k, 1mil, 2mil surely you can expect that not to be totally used on care homes?!

My mother in law has been in a care home for over 9 years with dementia.

The only relative I would have possibly inherited from gave it to her carer instead!!
3275k house and my family's antiques!
Being grabby isn't a quality to be proud of anyway!

Genuinely not something I think about or plan tbh.

My elderly df has a tiny ground floor flat and 6 dc.
If he does avoid a care home I’ll perhaps get £20.000.
As care homes cost £45k a year it’s unlikely I’ll get anything.

care home fees in a good care home can be 6k a month, so at 70k a year it may not last long. Most people don't spend years in a carer home though and many have private pensions, state pensions, Attendance Allowance to go towards the fees also as well as draining savings.

In my family it's not the amount, it's the feuding and dysfunction, conditionality and game playing.

It goes much faster than you'd think. The amount really is dependant on how long the person lives and there is no way to know that.

The only way to (mostly) guarantee inheritance is to have enough invested and nice pensions/annuities to provide a large enough monthly income to pay for the care home fees

Depends how many years the person needs care and how expensive the home is.

If you're paying £1000 a week for example and you live 10 years then that's 120,000 on fees alone.

So yes if the person has millions then there's likely to be some left but it's best to assume the person will use their money during their life to ensure the best quality of life (and want them to!) instead of banking on a slice when they've gone. It's best to assume you've got to provide for yourself all your life.

I'm hoping my parents pass away after spending their last pound. I wish they, like witches in Discworld knew the exact time of their demise so they could plan their spending accordingly

It's much healthier to live with an independent frame of mind anyway.

Combination of the size of the estate and family history, surely? If your parents are living in a £500k house and both sides tend to die young(ish) that's very different to someone who every grandparent spent 10+ years in a super expensive care home with dementia.

You can buy an insurance policy if your loved one goes into a nursing home, so you at least know how much it will cost up front. So maybe £200k max.

My lovely mum died a week ago. It was incredibly important to her that I knew all the financial information and that the amount of money I would get was discussed prior. I'm glad we had those conversations.

People on MN get very worked up about inheritance, but it was very important to my mum that she left me 'taken care of' and that I knew this money was coming. I haven't made many life decisions with that knowledge in mind, but it did make me more relaxed about the future (although I hadn't envisaged receiving it so early and wish I wasn't in this situation)

Not quite what you asked, OP, but recommend to anyone in the future letting your children know what the financial implications of your death are and planning where your money and assets will go. Money after death doesn't have to be a taboo subject.

In answer to your question, I don't really know. I think people spending years in care homes isn't as common as it appears on here. Of the people who have died in recent years in my family, including my mum, only one was in a care home for any length of time (two years) and we rented out her home to pay for that. People with large estates should have financial plans and strategies in place. The exception to this is usually where all wealth is tied up in a property (so the person may not have much liquid cash or assets but bought a house a long time ago which has soared in value).

Most people don’t go into a care home.
Of those that do ONS says :
“Life expectancy for care home residents between 2021 and 2022 ranged from 7.0 years at age group 65 to 69 years, to 2.9 years at age 90 years and over for females, and from 6.3 years at age group 65 to 69 years, to 2.2 years at age 90 years and over”

“Approximately 418,000 people live in care homes (Laing and Buisson survey 2016). This is 4% of the total population aged 65 years and over, rising to 15% of those aged 85 or more.
www.mha.org.uk › facts-stats
Facts & Stats - Older People in the UK - MHA”

Care home fees £1k plus a week, times 2. Still had house, so still paying small bills, general upkeep, gardener, insurance, etc.

Still had private health care for a long time, just before they gave it up, we found out it was costing £2.8k per month! At which point we said pay as you go.

DM spent several thousand on saving her teeth. Crowns and implants.

Even in care home still need to pay for hairdresser, physio, podiatrist, toiletries, new clothes.

Selling fees for house after death, cleaning, house clearance, a few thousand more.

Add in several children and grandchildren, everyone gets a little, but not a lot!

I won't receive anything & in its own way it's good to know this. My mum helped me when I became a widow & I now have monthly income from that investment.
I am now her executor for my siblings & all the grandchildren.
Obviously any inheritance from my late husband's parents will go directly to my children - which is fraught with its own difficulties as I have an SEND child who is unlikely to work or live independently. It needs to be put in a trust, however it is not my place to raise it with them unless they ask my opinion/for my help

We have lost 3 out of four of our parents suddenly with none of them needing any care. I imagine my dad will live to be a good age as his mum did. I would try to keep him at home as long as I could as I know he would hate to go into a care home unless it was absolutely necessary. He keeps his savings just at the level where he would get care funded, although I don't think he realises that this would just mean possibly not the best care home. Dh received quite a lot of inheritance from his parents some years ago but I never bank on it and would certainly not factor it into future financial planning as you just can't rely on it unless your relatives are millionaires.

Oh & she moved to Wales as that's where one of my siblings lives & there are no care home fees there

Quite.

Between us, my husband and I have a set of grandparents, two sets of parents, and two unmarried aunts - my husband is the only blood relative of his aunt.

It would be really quite unusual for the whole set to end up in care.

Not that we rely on inheritances - we'd rather they enjoyed their money. But it won't be a surprise if we end up with quite a few K.

My mums estate is currently around £800 k.. if she goes in care home I will buy an annuity for around £4-500k

Therefore if it's tomorrow I'll get 300k for sure but this can change as time goes on..

She has dementia so is physically ok and will prob go on for a while

I could do course wing it and end up with nothing .. I'll make that decision when needed .

I'm not relying on any of it though

My mum's care needs cost £6000 a month. She's been in a care home and then an extra care flat for 14 years. You do the maths.

My late MIL had dementia and was in a care home for eight years. Her care was about £4000 a month I think.

So for both, all their savings and the income from the sale of their houses went to care. I don't know for certain but a rough estimate of my mum's savings and house value woulda have been about £500k. It ran out long ago and the council now pays. MILs money ran out well before she died, too.

If you're paying £1000 a week for example and you live 10 years then that's 120,000 on fees alone.

I think your maths is off @IncompleteSenten ! The total would be over £500,000!

The system is under reform currently , once completed there will be a cap on how much n individual pays on personal care element of £86k but in a home they would still be expected to contribute towards living expenses until they have less than a set amount - that contribution would not be a high as people pay currently

I agree with @Hugasauras. My parents were quite up front about money and put Trusts in place and explained to us how it worked (though to us they did seem unnecessarily complicated, but there it was). It didn't all work out as expected (the world of finance not being a stable environment), but we knew we'd be getting around X amount, though not all of it was liquid.
My mother had round the clock carers in her own home for the last two years. This cost well over £100k a year. But it was money my Dad earned, and to make my mother comfortable would have been what he wanted, and she did not want to go into a care home. There was enough in the rest of their estate that we each did get a significant amount.

Yes but will this actually ever happen? I doubt it. Why do you think it’s been delayed??