AIBU to try and prevent care home fees? Advice appreciated

[Watermelonsuns]

So my parents are elderly, both have health issues but managing well at home. My mum in particular would struggle if something happened to my dad. Recently a friend's parent had to go into a care home and as the parent owned their own house and savings they are self funding and the fees are crazy.
AIBU to try and find a way to protect my parent's property and savings in order its not all gone in care home fees in the last years?
Someone has suggested moving their property into my name but surely that would be an obvious way to avoid fees and would look dodgy? Is there another loop hole im missing? Aby advice from someone working in this area would be appreciated thanks

What makes you think the taxpayer should fund your inheritance?

You need to come to the acceptance that if they both need dementia care homes their money will be taken. It is unfair and you can rage at the world but the sooner you accept it then you can move on. There is nothing more to be done if you do not care for them yourselves.

The issue is that two generations of working people were encouraged to become home owners. Much of that dream was about having something to leave their children. Many elderly could have continued to rent their council houses but bought the home ownership dream, skimped to pay a mortgage and now end up with the same net result. Nothing.

If DH or I end up in a nursing home (current rate locally about £84k pa), that's fine. Once widowed, my pension will cover most of it and the same for DH. Our savings/other income will top it up a bit and if one is in a home and the other's at their own home, then pension will pay at least half and we have significant assets. The issues arise when a couple have a little more than the state pension between them and a house worth maybe £250k whereby the equity is quickly eaten up. That is just not fair.

There needs to be another way. Perhaps people should be able to elect for nursing home fees early on as a discretionary tax and benefit.

Yes, and remember that it may not be the case that ALL the capital is immediately eaten up in full fees. It will be needed to top up pension income, which can go towards the fees, and can be invested, so that the diminution of capital is slowed, or may not happen at all.

It may be possible to keep the house and let it, using the rent to contribute to care home fees, but acting as a landlord is not all fun and games and the house will eventually be sold anyway.

'It is very unfair that if a parent goes into a hospice with cancer then their savings and home are not touched but if they need into a care home for Dementia then the government expects people who have saved and worked hard to pay themselves yet people who haven't are taken care of.'

Why can't they sell their home to pay the fees? Or are you just after a free house for yourself? While they live in a shitty council funded home?

Isn’t it 7 years and they pay you market rent if they live there. You could look after them yourself and/or buy a part-time live out carer.

Its reasonable to pay care home fees if they are reasonable. In this country they aren’t reasonable. Europeans would laugh at 60k plus a year. My uncle was in Spain he only died under 2 years ago, and paid approx £24k pa for a care home. His family also separately paid for a lady to come in at lunch and dinner time to feed him and check on him at £30 a day as they couldn’t go themselves that often, so that is an extra £9000 pa.

FYI the average time to be in a care home is just 2 years.

It is very unfair that if a parent goes into a hospice with cancer then their savings and home are not touched but if they need into a care home for Dementia then the government expects people who have saved and worked hard to pay themselves

people with cancer in a hospice are there for a very short time. A fortnight in my dad's case, a couple of days for my mum. Not the same as a care home.

Most people who go into a hospice aren’t there for months on end, sadly. It’s tough luck, or lucky depending on how you look at it, that your parents own their own home. You’d be better off lobbying the government to put a cap on care homes fees, as was the plan until it was scrapped. I’m not sure which councils could afford to take on the rest of the costs though as their funding has been cut for years. Not paying care homes fees when you have the money isn’t an option.

In case you don’t realise, everyone pays taxes, even the poorest, through VAT. Where would you have them go when they can no longer stay at home, a poorhouse? Luckily they don’t exist any more.

I didn't realise that. I remember reading a thread on here from someone with a relative who had been in x home self funding for years, run out of money and the council were moving the relative to somewhere "much worse". But maybe the original one was a super high end one.

Personally I think care homes should be nationalised, yes people would still have to pay, but pay at a rate where a private company isn't making massive profits. So to cover costs.

The difference being that self funders get to choose. My DSF recently spent 2 years in a care home as an LA funded resident, we were unable to choose the home, and he although he was well looked after it was certainly grim!

My mother was in one and died of her cancer within 24 hours of arriving there. I'm going to add that hospices are mostly run on charitable donations - the state is not putting much money into them at all.

It does, and that is why if you are on state benefits they are reduced after 6 weeks.

It’s also about the quality of the home.

I have read virtually every post. Read also an article about care home owner calling him a ''fat cat'' - how he was making a lot of money through his care home, which, of course was his business - so he was obviously doing it for a profit! When people no longer could afford his fees - he ''kicked'' them out - no one stayed who could not pay!

But you haven’t worked hard and paid taxes to pay for your parents house gave you? You want them to get free care at every tax payers expense, but only you will benefit when they die?

Some people are fully funded and some aren't, that seems unfair, particularly since those that have assets have paid higher taxes than those that don't.

I have contributed to these threads before. I don’t mind paying for care when I need it, but I do have an issue with all my money being taken (down to around £23,500 then graduating to £13,000 I believe). I’ve worked since I was 16 and would like to leave something more to my children and gcs. Care homes often have both self funders and LA residents.Self funders subsidise the LA fees which are lower. As usual the very rich aren’t affected, those with no assets are paid for and the middle group get to pick up the cost.

Everyone wants carers to be better paid but no one actually wants to pay them. Everyone else needs to pay them, not the people needing them, apparently.

How do you that out? Do you believe all funded residents have never worked? My grandmother worked from 14 to 72. She only ever rented, she paid taxes, she lived to 101. My grandfather died at 65, just when he got his state pension. After paying NI for 50 years, he actually received 2 months state pension.

Do you think the same about all the elderly that don't have to pay because they don't own a home/live in social housing/haven't saved for this eventuality?

Maybe spend some of your money on your children now then?

Unless your parents are extremely wealthy, we’re privately educated, privately educated you, never used any government services, don’t draw a state pension and have had private healthcare their whole life then I’m afraid any money they contributed by “working hard all their life” has long since been spent. It’s now up to the rest of us to fund them, and so contributing my reducing your precious inheritance is an unfortunate fact of life.

That was one of my theories! Maybe my question should l have been why are you special and different you inherit all your parents money?

The best solution without being caught by deprivation of assets or evading death duties, is to consider renting out their home when they need residential care.

I have heard some people do this, this no good.