I am expecting that this may happen with one or both of my parents in the next few years. They a have a good monthly pension. And own their own house which is worth approximately 300k
we are in Scotland if that makes any difference
what happens about paying for care? If one can still stay at home. How is care paid for? I assume this must be a position a lot of people find themselves
Elderly parents
What happens financially when an elderly persons requires full time care,
Yumyo · 26/03/2024 07:03
Mischance · 26/03/2024 07:12
Google Age Concern ... it is all there.
DiscoBeat · 26/03/2024 07:34
NB we are in England, so not sure if it's the same.
mitogoshi · 26/03/2024 07:40
In England what you have to pay depends on savings, whether it's home care or residential, and crucially whether it's deemed medical care or not - fairly subjective but if the reason for care is due to a medical condition you can apply for nhs continuing care which isn't means tested, if it's deemed social care eg when you just old and not capable anymore you pay yourself until the means test
NoBinturongsHereMate · 26/03/2024 08:49
I believe Scotland has an equivalent of Attendance Allowance. The system (and possibly name) for it is changing this year so I'm not up to speed on the details, but if it's like the English one it's not means tested.
ASighMadeOfStone · 26/03/2024 07:20
How very helpful.
Mumsnet wouldn't exist if every question asked received that reply.
@Yumyo
there's a lovely friendly ongoing thread called the Cockroach Cafe with lots of posters caring for elderly parents. They'll welcome you and help you find out everything you need to know, but basically, all things being equal, full time care with that amount of money/equity, it would be self-funded until a certain amount of resources are left. (when I was in that situation some years ago now, I think it was £28,000 in savings)
There are situations when, even with savings/resources, care is funded but varies wildly and isn't common.
Mischance · 26/03/2024 07:12
Google Age Concern ... it is all there.
MereDintofPandiculation · 26/03/2024 09:00
But what you describe isn’t the English system, where the value of the home is disregarded if an elderly spouse still lives in it.
DiscoBeat · 26/03/2024 07:34
NB we are in England, so not sure if it's the same.
Yumyo · 26/03/2024 07:03
I am expecting that this may happen with one or both of my parents in the next few years. They a have a good monthly pension. And own their own house which is worth approximately 300k
we are in Scotland if that makes any difference
what happens about paying for care? If one can still stay at home. How is care paid for? I assume this must be a position a lot of people find themselves
ASighMadeOfStone · 26/03/2024 07:20
How very helpful.
Mumsnet wouldn't exist if every question asked received that reply.
@Yumyo
there's a lovely friendly ongoing thread called the Cockroach Cafe with lots of posters caring for elderly parents. They'll welcome you and help you find out everything you need to know, but basically, all things being equal, full time care with that amount of money/equity, it would be self-funded until a certain amount of resources are left. (when I was in that situation some years ago now, I think it was £28,000 in savings)
There are situations when, even with savings/resources, care is funded but varies wildly and isn't common.
Mischance · 26/03/2024 07:12
Google Age Concern ... it is all there.
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Emmz1510 · 26/03/2024 11:37
I am in Scotland and can advise a little as this happened to my mother in law. She needed to go into a care home and ultimately the house had to be sold to pay for this. My brother in law lived with her as her carer and because of that they couldn’t just sell the house immediately so what is called a charging order is put in place so that mil could go into the home and this document stipulated that money from future sale of the house would go towards her care home costs. I can’t remember if there was a time limit on him moving out, but he did after a short while. The social work services allocated a solicitor to oversee it all and make sure the money went where it was supposed to. My mil ended up only needing to be there a short time (less than 2 years) before she passed so there was still money left from the sale of the house and this was split between my husband and his brother.
Im not sure what happens if a spouse remains in the home, I’m guessing a similar thing? A charging order which allows them to remain there until either they pass or need care themselves then either remaining proceeds go to spouses care or is spilt between family. Perhaps a will comes into play here if your parents made one. I don’t know as my in laws died intestate.
I hope that helps. If your mother is that the point of needing care it is likely she will have a social worker (or soon will have) who can advise you.
Beware of thinking that the house can be ‘signed over’ to someone else to avoid paying care costs. In Scotland at least, the local authority can still pursue them/you for care costs under what is called ‘deprivation of capital’.
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