Care for family member- getting payed

[Katherina198819]

I am a carer for my husband's grandfather, who is living with us (very severe dementia). It is a full-time job so I can't go back to work.

I also have two tiny children - getting government funded nursery hours would be helpful. How can I set up a self employed buisness and get paid by the grandfather?

As he isn't from the UK, I won't be able to apply any carer allowancee or universal credit - it won't be necessary anyways, as he had a good pension.

If he has dementia who makes decisions for him? Is there a POA in place?
You need to be careful about taking any money from him, I am not saying you shouldn't but you just need to make sure that you can prove everything is above board.
One way to do it would be for him to pay for bills/ food etc rather than give you a wage and if he WAS to pay you as a SE person you would have to justify the amount.
It is probably doable but needs some careful handling

Its pretty easy to set up as a sole trader/ register as self employed. It’s not so easy to just declare yourself a self employed carer unless you have qualifications?

If not, I’d do it as a home help/ companion / housekeeper. It’d be fairly easy to justify a salary of £20 ph or so, agency staff are more expensive. The carers where I work (reablement team) have just been put on £15.05 ph so by time you consider your pension and paid holiday etc. your in the ball park. Get a bookkeeper to keep you right.

Register as self employed and pay your own tax/ NI. Keep a diary of work, arrival / departure. List of tasks undertaken each day.

@Hoppinggreen
My husband is handling his finances. He is the power of attorney both financially and medically for him (since 2020).

He doesn't own anything other than his pension (when he started to show signs of dementia, a family member made him sign over the house and sold it- weren't aware of this so it was too late to fight it; that is why he lives with us and we take care of him).

I don't mind being his carer as my second child is only 5 months old, so I would stay home anyways. But my maternity is running out next month, and I won't be able to go back to work, as his care plus nursery fees would be way more than what I would earn.

I just want to make sure I pay taxes, contribute to my pension and get nursery hours- it not about the money but more about me not being out of work in paper. Hope this makes sense.

I would urge caution then if your husband is seen to be involved in setting something up for his father with dementia to pay you money.
I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that at all and I appreciate why you want to do it but POA holders need to have everything carefully documented in case of questions being asked either now or after death.
It sounds like there is another relative around who isn't trustworthy so they could try and make waves for you if they are in the will.
Again, not accusing you of anything its just that not only do you need to do the right thing but you have to be SEEN to be doing the right thing as well.

Thank you for the answers. Yes, the money I would take would be a very small amount. I am worried how it would look, but at the same time, I am taking care of him, and later on, I will have a gap in my employment, tax, and pension, which just doesn't seem fair.

He doesn't have a will as he doesn't own anything - the family member took everything from him. They won't be able to come to his pension as my husband is the power of attorney plus we already reported them for elderly abuse (back when we figured it out they slowley robbed him and took his home).

I guess I would do it as @Lovelysummerdays suggested and rather than care, maybe a home help or housekeeper. We already have everything documented for visa reasons , such as keeping his receipts for medical bills and medicine, shopping, etc.

@Hoppinggreen he also gets his pension from two separate pots - one is still under his name, and the other one has been sent to my husband. I guess it would make sense if the money comes from the grandfather account rather than my husband?
It's so complicated, so I probably will need to talk to a lawyer or someone about this?

How can he pay you if he has no money, can your husband employ and pay you instead

POA ends on death though so there is a small chance dodgy relative may turn up and see if they can get anything, especially if there is no will. If there is no will and dodgy relative is as closely related to FIL as your H they have certain rights. They may never exercise them but don't assume, people can do all sorts if they think they can get some money out of it.

Family care payments often have to be agreed by the office of the public guardian (OPG) and can't just be decided by the LPOA.

They are also subject to additional monitoring due to the risks associated with them.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-guardian-practice-note-family-care-payments/pn2-family-care-payments-web-version

All of this sounds a legal minefield so you need to get specific advice from Citizens Advice or Age UK or similar. If he's not eligible for benefits, what is his citizenship status? Besides everything else, I don't think you wouldn't be counted as self-employed by HMRC in these circumstances.

What sort of visa does he have, who will pay if he needs hospital.

He is applying for a dependent family member visa. It's based on human rights, as his home has been taken away from him back in the States, and his granchildren and great grandchildren lives in the Uk. It's the second application, and it's been over 3 years- The immigration lawyer said he can stay legally as long as he has an application filed.

He goes to private doctors for his medications and memory test (he gets medication for his dementia which requires a memory test every 3 months) and is paying for his own medicine and flu vaccinations. He has good pension, so visa applications and private health care aren't a problem. He is from the US, and his insurance covers emergencies; for example, if he ends up in the hospital, the insurance will cover that.

He could go into a home as his pension would cover it and even without the visa sorted out, they would take him (he is on the waiting list just in case) but we still prefer him to live with us- he isn't difficult to look after, but it's still a full time job.

His situation is very complicated, so I am not sure how legally he would be able to pay me for care.