Cost of care - no idea where to start

[Dollywolly]

I’m sure this has been asked endlessly - please do just copy a link to those posts as I've looked and not found it.
MIL needs to go into a home now. FIL can no longer cope and none of us can afford to stop work to care for her. Does he have to sell his house to pay for care? But then, where does he go?! He has some savings but they wouldn’t last long looking at care home fees. How do people do it?!

Social services or your local council should do a financial assessment. If they have savings of less than £16,000 ?? The care package should be paid for. It depends on a lot of factors but I think the assessment should sort it. Have they got joint or separate finances?? Sorry for your troubles x

Regarding the house, asling as it is jointly owned then no whilst your FIL is still living their the house he cannot be forced to sell it. A charge can be put on it for if / when it is sold. I believe that only savings in your MIL name can be considered - but im not 100% on that. Ask for a financial assessment to be done.

No, he won’t have to sell the house. If he needs to go into a care home himself later, that’s when it would have to be sold.

@shellyleppard is right, some savings might have to go to pay for care, but not all. You need to get onto social services for a financial assessment asap as these can take a bit of time to get sorted. The contact information will be on your local council’s website.

Bear in mind that if social services are paying, you won’t get a free choice of care home: it will have to be one that doesn’t exceed their rate limits. They’ll tell you which ones they’re prepared to fund. It is possible to “top-up” yourselves but it’s complicated, so better to look at all the social services funded ones first. They’re often better than the scare stories suggest.

Something I found out recently is that there is a difference between Nursing Homes and Care Homes and payments.
My relative needs care as I am unable to do it and when I had a meeting with hospital staff, Social Services and myself they explained that they were going to apply for Continuing Health Care and failing that Funded Nursing Care which means that CHC would be arranged and funded by NHS and FNC means I would have to pay something like £100 a week (not yet decided).
This applies to Nursing Homes and not Care Homes and I didn't know there was a difference as I have not been involved in anything like this before - as many of us have not.
If he went into a Care Home it would be self funded but I would be in the same situation as OP only having the money for a short while.
Thought I would post this as there may be others who don't know the difference.

That's not quite right. As long as FIL is living in their joint home it is disregarded completely in the financial calculation. For any joint assets apart from the house, half will be considered as MiL's and will count towards the £23k threshold. All savings or assets in her sole name will be counted.

If she has more than £23k (excluding the house) she will be self funding, but can claim attendance allowance which will offset it slightly. If she needs nursing rather than just residential care she may also be able to claim a bit towards the nursing element.

If she has between £16k and £23k she will get some social services funding but will have to pay part.

If she has under £16k social services fund the lot - but will take part of her pension payments.

If she needs nursing care for clinical reasons, you can apply for the NHS to fund it.

Thank you SO much for your replies. I am going to forward them to my DH. FIL is in his late 80s and doesn’t know where to start. 😔
@RosesAndHellebores I don’t know what she needs really. She has Alzheimer’s and needs care for everything now, washing, toilet etc. I assume that doesn’t count as clinical does it, even though it’s caused by Alzheimer’s?

It might do, fight it.

Info here

This has some helpful info. Most cases are won on appeal. Your MP should help.

I said earlier my relative is being put forward for CHC funding and they have dementia and unable to do things for themselves so get in touch with SS.

Has she got any military background at all? If so you can approach SSAFA for help. Even if she served a day 60 years ago it counts.

Gosh, that is interesting. It seems it also applies to the families of people with a military background, so if OP's FIL has any military background (National Service would presumably count) then it might be worth approaching them. At worst, they can say no.

Getting CHC funding is nigh on impossible.
The first thing that needs to happen is she needs to be assessed by Adult Social Care to determine if she can be supported at home or does indeed need to go into residential care. Is she having carers coming in at the moment? My guess is not as you'd already be aware of financial contributions.

This doesn’t mean they will qualify. My stepfather has Parkinson’s, Lewy Body dementia, doubly incontinent, needs hoisting as can no longer walk, needs feeding as can no longer hold a spoon / cup. He doesn’t qualify as all his needs can be met by health care assistants, he doesn’t need nurses. Believe me, the bar is extremely high!

Phone age Uk they have a freephone helpline open 365 days a year plus produce loads of useful information

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/paying-for-care/paying-for-a-care-home/

I know that but why would these health care people waste their time applying for theses grants if they are almost impossible to get. They know what is wrong with my relative and whether or not to apply.

The cynic in me thinks it’s a terrible system where people are given false hope. In my area, there are nurse practitioners who are employed to assess CHC applications. Social workers suggest you can apply for the funding and you complete an initial checklist with them. If you meet the threshold you then go on to have a full assessment which involves the nurse practitioners, person needing the care, social worker and perhaps someone from the care home. My SW told me that in our area less than 10% of applications are approved. The CHC funding team still have a job, still get paid whether they approve of the funding or not. In my experience it was a paper tick box exercise with a pre decided outcome.

This is an important point to note differences between care and nursing homes

howver, I’ve, nursing homes for dementia are in short supply, especially ones that can handle (as is often needed) DOL Or section117, or end of life care.

sadly, imhe, people in early stage go by default to care homes which have more spaces. But then find as their needs increase, especially is agitated or agressive get booted out . It is at that point you’re then scrambling around trying to needs reassessed so that nursing care comes into play and nursing home become the only option.

For all those saying chc is almost impossible/ just 10%….that still equates to a huge number across the uk getting it!

in my own experience chc is given

1. where there is issues with patient being a danger to themselves or others and can no longer be cared for by care workers as they require psychiatrist dispensed meds and need a 2:1 ratio . This will typically apply to the most distressed and disturbed patients . They will be folks like my dad who was sectioned and now under 117 and is often aggressively agitated.. And rightly, for both patient and staff protection must be in nursing homes and with nursing needs that qualify for extra funding from. My dad is now at end of life phase, his RESPECT form says he won’t be taken to hospital now, he occasional aspirates and needs suction, and is on a fairly liquid diet when he does eat. He lost 2kg last week so nutrition and tracking of what he does manage to eat is vital. He has complex needs and definately need nurses available 24/7. Nursing homes are full of people like my dad - care is not enough, they need actual nursing and that’s hugely expensive and in short supply. Hence why they do get funded. CHC is normal for these patients and not nearly impossible to get as implied here
2. peoples needs change as these diseases progress. In the earlier or mid phase of disease then most people can be cared for without nursing needs. That can last for years. And yep, funding under CHC is not available rightly or wrongly. But at some point their needs will change and may then need more nursing type care. At each stage the persons nearest relative/POA etc should be pushing to get a reassessment . Whilst it might not cover all cost, they may qualify for a little funding that helps. Make sure you read the DST carefully and input into the assessment session . If you don’t push to attend you won’t automatically get asked. Whilst the DST will get input form GP, care homes, nursing homes and even psychiatrists, you can interject carefully if you feel they don’t have complete picture.