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?!

Honestly I think people who think in depth about their potential inheritance are awful. Even worse are those who plan what they're going to do with it.

At £2k a month for care home, all inheritance is literally going down by the minute and will all go.

No surprise the government delayed the limit in what can be spent on care home fees. It’s appalling.

Most of £500k can easily go on care homes. My friend's mum has been in a care home costing £60k a year for 5 years already. She's got dementia and doesn't know who she or anyone else is, but no signs of her going any time soon.

Also don't forget about 40% IHT above the nil rate band (for a larger estate). My mother always tells me "you'll be fine when we're gone", which is bonkers because she herself ended up with nothing by the time her parents both died. People don't like thinking about their own future being in a care home, understandably. I certainly don't! The reality is that it's very common.

It's really not "under reform". It was a government election manifesto pledge of which there has been no progress made, and there is very unlikely to be any progress made before the next election. Politicians just keep kicking the thorny issue of care funding into the long grass, and it would be nieve to expect much to change imo.

You don’t know anyone who has paid more than £300k? Meet me. £350k in and my 97 year old father will easily reach 100 plus. Sadly he has Alzheimer’s and needs round the clock care but is very physically fit and healthy.

I’m amazed at those who could fund it through rental. When dad went in at 90 the fees were £4000 pm ~ his house would have rented at £2000 max and needed a lot of work. Any income would have been taxable. He had an old age pension and a tiny occupational pension making a total of £12000 pa. We had no choice but to sell the house. We certainly couldn’t fund the £1000 per month difference and now the fees are £6000 pm …

I’d never heard of the annuity before ~ wish I had.

However dad is cared for and loved and it was never our money anyway. But have no illusions about how quickly large amounts will drain away.

As for the government cap ~ if that ever happens it won’t include living costs just ‘care’ and no doubt the homes will inflate that so fees won’t reduce dramatically.

YABU and grabby. Relying on anything financial 20-30 years hence is a big risk. Lord knows what might’ve happened by then.

Better off saving throughout your own life.

The care home mh FIL was in was £2 k a week. His house was sold for £600 k

The maths is fairly straightforward

If you take over the care personally you can cut out the care home fees, that should boost your inheritance quite considerably. It would take a lot of effort on your behalf, but think of all that lovely money that you’re longing to lay your hands on.

I don't really understand why it's a bad thing to pay for decent care?

It is easy. My dad rents and doesn't have a pot to piss in. There will be no inheritance

@theresnolimits I didn't think I had to actually explain that I don't know every single person but obviously should have added a disclaimer!

I don't personally know anyone who has spent more than 300k but I gave the figure of 1.2m
before you can think about inheritance as obviously I wouldn't extrapolate my personal experiences to everyone....

There is a quote that ,”people live forever when there is an endowment to be paid”.

The same can be said for care home fees. Once a person is admitted, they are protected from all the usual things that would lead to their demise. Generally, the wealthier they are, the more they are prepared to pay for their home.

I am of the age to know a few people in care, and the fees are mind boggling. Where inheritance is concerned, I think it is dangerous to think you can rely on getting anything.

I know someone who has both parents in a dementia unit and its £1200 a week for her mum, £1400 for her dad. They had good savings, a nice house in the SE - and all of that will have gone on care fees in another year.

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

Just in case anyone's thinking 'That's not so bad', I'm afraid the maths is wrong.

£1000 a week = £52,000 a year.
10 years = £520,000 — and that doesn't take inflation into account.
Some homes in the SE are even more expensive.

The fees for my mothers perfectly nice, but very ordinary care home we're just over £50k per annum, I gather they have gone us significantly since then.

Unless the inheritance is tied up in trust, there is not likely to be much to inherit. Sorry.

£1000 a week for example, equates to roughly £5.95 an hour. For 24/7 care and supervision, salaries, heating, lighting, laundry, food, water, council tax, maintenance, cleaning, staff training, uniforms, insurance etc etc.
I paid more than that in nursery fees twenty years ago.
The alternative is other taxpayers pay for all this, just so that family can receive an inheritance.
We all know the funding rules. We can spend our money as we go, or drip feed it away if we wish. If we choose to save it instead and end up in a care home, that's the gamble you take.

The alternative is other taxpayers pay for all this, just so that family can receive an inheritance.

Inheritance inequality is already a big issue due to property variance.
Why should a carer or nurse get a shit wage & pay more tax because someone else wants to
protect their inheritance?

If neither my parents need to go into a care home then I guess the sale of their house will be split between me and my brother. However not knowing what the future may bring means I'm not thinking I'll be getting several hundred thousand any time soon....

You can't know how much inheritance you may have for several reasons:

It may not come to you in the will, or at least it may not all come to you.
There would be care home fees it depends on what type of care the person needs and what facilities they selected and how long they are there.

My lovely Mum was in a residential home (so not a nursing home), it was 4.5k GBP per month (no gov assistance). It was totally worth it as they helped her remain independent and happy. But that 54k GBP a year + expenses. Obviously nursing care would be higher and some facilities if they have lots of activities etc can be much higher.

I don’t think that taxpayers should pay the care home fees so that the heirs can get an inheritance of property/investments. That makes no sense when many of these taxpayers won’t be earning big bucks, nor inheriting much themselves.

Care should be taxpayer-funded for those who can’t pay but all state pension or benefit received should be directed towards the fees.

This is what already happens pretty much, so I don’t actually think that reform is needed. Not from a financial viewpoint anyway (I can’t comment on the medical or practical aspects).

The ONS stats posted above show that all this applies to the minority. Another reason not to waste time and funds on financial reform.

I do think that people should be less squeamish about talking about money. It saves a lot of bother further down the line. It’s not grabby or entitled to seek to know what to expect for yourself and/or your minor children in all scenarios…it’s sensible.

I hope my parents spend every last penny on their own comfort and happiness before they die, peacefully, in very old age. They inherited nothing, worked hard for all they have, gave me an amazing childhood and all the love and support I could have wished for. That’s enough for me.

Never going to happen. Hopefully we’ll never have to use our care home fund but the kids know it’s there and that’s what we call it. We expect to be paying £1500 a week at current rates.

There is zero point relying on a potential inheritance, finances should be sorted assuming you won't receive anything and most of those that do inherit will be over 60.
We'll be spending and giving as much away as possible to avoid inheritance tax etc.

By the time they passed away there was £80k debt but as the tenant was in situ the council accepted the debt & they transferred funds every 3 months & a tie was placed on the property. When the debt was cleared the tie was removed & then when the tenant left it was sold.
They don't tell you that you can do it & in fact they positively discourage it but they can't actually make you sell.
It's not fair really as people should know their options (the debt did incur interest after she died but at a low rate)
I know of 3 other families doing this currently

Maybe you are lucky to not have Alzheimers in your family, or if you do, to have someone to care full time for that person.
Count your blessings.

I don't understand your post, did you mean to quote me? Granted I haven't RTFT, but I don't understand how what you have written relates to what I have written?