Inheritance and care home fees

[Hateam]

Hello!

My mother-in-law is in a care home.

My wife, her daughter, is also in a care home for medical - non age related- issues. My council are paying for my wife's care as we have under £24500 in savings.

When my MIL dies (she's 94) my wife will inherit about £180,000.

We don't want this money going to Essex CC.

Is there anything we can?

Could my MIL's will be changed to remove my wife and replace her with me? She is still of sound mind.

Could the money go into an account in my sole name?

I am aware of the concept of deprivation of assets.

So she is well enough to appreciate restaurants and theatre, but not well enough to be at home with you whilst you care for her and arrange private carers?

You want someone else to care for her, for free, whilst you just get the fun of having her accompany you to theatre trips and restaurants of your choice?

You need to speak to a solicitor.

If your MIL still has capacity she can change her will. She should leave her money to a discretionary trust. The income from the trust can then be used to benefit whoever the trustees choose, including you and/or your wife. Any payments would need to ensure that neither of you exceeded the benefits savings cap.

There are tax and admin implications but a solicitor will be able to advise.

Many families with dependents in care do this.

I hope someone here works for Essex CC and can flag this post

Through my work I've noticed some of the local councils getting a lot more proactive about collecting care home fees.

A similar thing happened a few years ago with Council Tax debts.

Talk to a financial advisor, not MN.

Your MIL can bypass her daughter and leave the money to any grandchildren (your children.)

Or to anyone she chooses.

So you want your wife's inheritance for yourself....rather than going for her care...so the tax payer (us) pay for it while you scuttle off with just under 200k of your MIL money?

Prince Amongst Men...

I think you are getting a very hard time on here from some people who have no experience of this situation. It is not the same as paying for care needs in old age. I shall be looking to set up a trust for my severely disabled son when I die and your MIL may be able to do the same. Consult a lawyer who specialises in trusts and good luck.

That's a very unfair post @BeanCountingContinues

Surely you can understand how the OP wants to make his wife's life more pleasant with outings?

It's also unfair of you to imply he can be responsible for all her medical needs and intimate personal care, 24/7 when, presumably, he works to keep a roof over his own head.

Complete fucking piss take.

If your wife inherits this money, she can use some of it for days out can’t she? No need for you to get your greedy mitts on it.

The vipers have come out in the sun today, that's for sure.

You don't understand do you?

Care could be £50K pa so the sum would only last 3-4 years.

If MIL is still able to make informed decisions then it’s up to her what she does. Does she have any opinion on the matter?

The council is funded by us, the tax payers, so your phrasing that you don't want Essex CC to gain is what is grating.

As for your MILs will - that is up to her. You could always seek legal or financial advice.

But we let rich people use the NHS for free? Why is the care ops wife needs different?

Some people are so greedy.

It is a paradox isn’t it. Whilst what OP is suggesting is incredibly cheeky, on the other hand you have gov telling people they need to go back to work as we have a productivity problem.

Why would anyone work or save when it’s just going to go on care. Which you would get for free anyway if you didn’t work or save.

Those of us whose parents do tend to be resigned to this fact. Inheritance shouldn't be taken for granted.

Its funded differently. NHS ans social care are kept separate.

I taken copies of all this and reported it to Essex CC via their 'Report a fraud' form. which let's you upload documents. Can't be many people with these circumstances and as someone who used to do financial assessments for care homes, I'm pretty sure the staff will be able to work out who it is.

Maybe other Mumsnetters could do likewise?

Poor MIL, probably a lovely old lady who's been cherished my so many and along comes the son-in-law like a vulture circling.

Certainly changing the legislation so that anyone needing care has to use any inheritance to pay for it would solve alot of government funding problems. It's good to know that MN is in support of that. Almost half council budgets go on social care much of that for under 65s.

If you're aware of deprivation of assets then you'll already know that the only way you can avoid assets not being taken into account in a means test is by never having those assets in the first place. So if you and your MiL wants to ensure her money is not used to pay towards the services the state provides to people without assets, she needs to leave her money to someone not dependent on state services. Ie, not you or your wife. That said, if your wife is having her care funded for medical purposes this could remain free of charge anyway under a different funding stream. However where medical stops and care starts is often a huge battle and there is no guarantee your wife's inheritance would not need to go towards it. The only certain way to avoid this is to not inherit the money.

So you have offloaded your wife's care to a care home and this is paid by Essex County Council.

You want the taxpayer to pay for her care home bill while you pocket her £180,000.

What a prince.

You’re aware people like me pay for your wife’s care? I don’t particularly want to pay for that so you can sit on hundreds of thousands either.

There are some horrible cruel comments on here. I don’t know the answer to your question but I’m sorry you are in this position it must be very hard. I hope you are able to give your wife the best life possible together through whatever means that will be.

Nothing has happened or are you wanting him prosecuted for a thought crime?

Agree with PPs that you must seek specialist advice on this. Many solicitors have people who specialise in care costs as it is quite a complex area now, and you really need someone who knows the ropes. It will realistically cost around a thousand pounds, but may worth a lot more than that to your family in the long run.

It is not cheating the system, you will not get anything more than you are entitled to. One of the first thing Labour has done is kick this can of worms further down the road, governments of all kinds are happy for families to struggle on themselves and keep on dodging the issue.

It might also be worth posting on the elderly parents forum as many people there have more knowledge.