Elderly dad moving back to the UK after decades in Rep of Ireland

[VenusInfers]

Hi wise ones of Mumsnet!

Have any of you got experience of this? We're trying to work out what the legal/financial/health implications might be of him returning to the UK.

My Ddad is in his 80s and has lived in the Republic of Ireland for almost 50 years. He has had some bouts of ill health but is doing well at the moment and lives independently in a city he knows well and can navigate easily.
My sister and I live in the south of England and he has no family in Ireland and a decreasing social circle. He and my DMum have been divorced for many years. He has British citizenship and worked in the UK when younger. He owns his own house, has savings and a private pension.

During lockdown he had a heart attack and, whilst this was being treated, it was discovered he had bowel cancer. Against expectations, he survived the surgery & is doing well but it was very very challenging to visit him and support him through this.

We would like to ask him if he would consider moving back to the UK, but don't want to do so until we have worked out the implications.

Of course he may not want to come anyway, and we would not insist/guilt him into doing anything he doesn't want to.

You might have more luck on the Craicnet board... xx

First, where is his pension coming from? Even with the Bilateral Agreement, it's worth checking that he can still claim it for the rest of his life if he moves back.

The second potential issue is access to the NHS. On paper, if you've lived abroad, you have to be in the UK for 6 months before they will give you free care. However, when we moved back we were given immediate access.

Thirdly, check how he stands with regs to funding for any social care he needs now and in the future. In the UK you usually have to sell your house to pay for social care. In Ireland If he's got a medical card in Ireland and owns a house, he might financially be better off staying put due to the cost of care as some care is covered by the HSE and you never pay more than 22.5% of the value of your home, total. This might also benefit you from an inheritance POV (sorry to bring that part up I know it's a little crass and probably not at the front of your thoughts).
https://www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/fair-deal-scheme/financial-assessment/

You’ll have to be able to prove he’s now a UK resident, to receive non emergency medical care. The rules changed on this last year and getting more stringent

I had to do this last year and it was a bloody mess due to there not being a ‘provide this list of 8 things and we’ll ok it’

I had to send all sorts of documents and then they decided whether they thought it held weight and we weren’t gaming the system 🙄

note - being a UK citizen / passport holder, working, paying tax and bills and generally living here are not enough evidence on their own

These are really helpful answers @LittleMy77 & @monpetitlapin , and have given me some questions to ask.

The proof-of-residency element for NHS access is one of the grey areas I was worried about. Hadn’t thought receiving his pensions might also be tricky. Funding social care we’re less concerned about, as we don’t care about inheritance, but need to make sure we know the rules.