more sleepless nights- funding care?

[Theas18]

How do people fund care?

I have to make all the choices for dad and it';s way too hard :)

I have found somewhere for him. He has what will be half a house ( Mum has willed her half to me and my sister) . Soooo

For 12 weeks we will get a bit towards it ( £400? I think) and I personally will be responsibly for paying the top up - which is bloody annoying- of course I have a spare 3K just lying around.... Then he pays the full amount.So at a ball park figure he has 3yrs fees saved in the value of the house?

What then? Bump him off?

Hi Theas I am not an expert, I have heard the term "12 week discard" but i am fairly sure that when savings/ assets get down to the last £23000 the local authority takes over paying for care. You could ask for a referral to social services and they should explain everything to you. But I'm sure others will be along soon with more concrete advice.

Whatabout we have a care coordinator etc and I understand the theory of some of it - the 12weeks at the " standard rate" is the 12 week discard.

I guess I have to just hope that after his money runs out he doesn't care where he resides if he has to move to a home where soc services funding covers it all?? or i end up paying out of my own pocket again...

AgeUK factsheets might be a user-friendly introduction.

Elderly Accommodation Counsel has a helpline and more factsheets.

Apologies, that a bit terse.

I think you have got the general gist. However, I'm unclear why you would be paying any top-ups while your dad has assets?

There are going to be some changes coming in from April 2016 which will increase the assets people can have and still get help with a care home. This factsheet gives a brief overview of the changes.

The key ones seem to be that the limit on assets for people in care homes will increase to £118,000 (currently £23,250) and there will be a new lifetime cap on care costs of £72,000. This won't include normal daily living costs, so there will obviously still be some ongoing costs for your dad to cover.

Hopefully this helps for your planning.

By deciding to leave half the house to you and your sister, your parents presumably decided that they would be content with SS care should their own funds run out. They could equally have left their half of the estate to each other to provide a bigger cushion for top-up care costs. IHT wise both individual allowances can be applied after the second dies so there would have been no tax advantage. Presumably then you and your sister need to decide whether you want to use your inheritance for top-up care, in the knowledge that your parents have structured things so the money goes to you rather than be retained by them.

According to the Age UK factsheet your dad might be able to pay his own top-ups during the 12 week disregard period:

"Residents whose property is subject to the 12 week disregard, or who have
entered into a ‘deferred payment agreement’, can make up the cost of more
expensive accommodation themselves, from disregarded capital or income."

If there's a 12 week disregard then the LA will only pay the benchmark rate for that period, So, if your dad chooses a care home that costs £600 pw but the LA rate is £400pw, then that is what the LA will pay for those 12 weeks until the property is sold.

Care homes are usually amenable to an arrangemnt for waiting for the dfference to be paid once The house has been sold, so that you don't need to find the top up. Its worth talking to the Home.

Also, talk to the Home about whether they would be prepared to accept the benchmark LA rate once your father's assets have dropped below the threshold.