Financing A Care Home

[TurtleDove89]

Hello everyone, first post on here :-)

I was wondering whether anyone may be able to help. I am looking into care homes for my Grandma. She has vascular dementia and it is really getting to the stage where she is no longer safe living in her house alone. I go over as often as possible but she now really needs someone there all the time. I have been researching care homes and funding (we live in Scotland) and from what I can gather I would need to sell her house and use all of her savings to pay the care home fees, without any real help from LA or NHS. Has this been other people's experiences? This money would run out after a few years and then I worry that I would have to find the money to top up what the council would provide.

Any advice on how to navigate this would be extremely appreciated!

Age UK have everything spelt out and there are fact sheets. It's the place to go! https://www.ageuk.org.uk/

I won’t add the link to finances for care in Scotland, because that was added on the other thread.

when you say she needs someone there all the time - do you mean literally watching all day, or would extra care housing suffice?

Look at Attendance Allowance - it’s not means tested, and can still be claimed if she’s getting no support from the LA for care home fees. Including night time rate, it’s a bit over £100 a week.

Are her savings substantial? If so, you can consider options for keeping the house and maybe letting it out, so when you need to sell it, you have benefited from the rise in property values. But being a landlord is hard work, and you’ll need to prioritise your own welfare.

Have you got power of attorney for finances and property, so you have authority to sell her house?