Taking Money From Pensioners to Care For Them... do you all know what goes on?

[Fangache]

Can't bring myself to post all the details here. But are you all aware that the government take ALL your money off you when you go into a home?

My Gran had £51k profit from the sale of her house. She also had her state pension, her NHS pension (she was a Nurse) and my Grandpa's work pension. Within 3 yrs of her being in a Nursing home they have taken ALL of her money and are now taking ALL 3 Pensions from her. Leaving her with £17.50 per week. Of that they take off £4 per week for some girl to come and do her hair!!!! WTF??

She smokes.... no way she can give up now, she's 83 and has advanced Parkinsons. She can't even afford her cigarettes now. She can't buy any of her 2 children, 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandhchildren birthday or christmas presents.

She worked all her days in the NHS. My Grandpa worked until 65 as an Insurance man.

What is she left with now? Nothing. Its a disgrace.

Just wanted you all to know that this happens.

my gran is the same fang....not sure what happened with the sale of the house hto, i think they got round that by it being "dished out" so to speak so that she never had the money in her account

for your gran Fangache. I can't believe our government could leave someone with so little dignity.

My Mum hasn't told my Gran she has no money left. So when she asks my Mum to withdraw money from her account to buy birthday presents etc.... my Mum just has to give her it out of her own pocket.

And to top it all off they phone my Mum to take her to Casualty if she falls and they don't think it warrants an ambulance!

Disgrace.

MM - My Gran gave me money for my wedding out of the sale of her house. But that they took that off the amount of savings you are allowed to keep....after a year they implied she had given away more than she was allowed to and accused my Mum of stealing it. They said that the social can sue relatives that take the money to try to PROTECT it from the government.

Sounds like a lousy nursing home if they don't take care of getting her an ambulance themselves.

thats horrible fangache, i cant believe they can do that.

surely its not legal???? could you try getting some adivce about it?

I like the way it's stealing it if you give it to your relatives, but it's not stealing if the state takes it off you.

Caligula - This is the 2nd one she's been in. They said they couldn't spare a member of staff to sit with her if the waiting time in Casualty was long!!!!!

omg fang! thinki need to ring me gran

It's totally legal because the state's pov is that the nursing has to be paid for and therefore if the old person has the financial means to pay for the care, then they should pay it, rather than the tax payer.

I think dh's grandad pays about 350 a week for his sheltered accommodation flat, so if you x by 52 weeks....it's a lot of money.

Your gran had 51K, in 3 years that doesn't go far.

Agree it is a disgrace. Dh's grandad seethes (sp?) at the people there who get it free when he has worked all his life etc.

One way round it is to sign over your house years and YEARS before you may want to go into a home, but if they think you have done it to avoid payment, they are legally allowed to claim it back.

for you gran.

xxxxx

Stacy - It was a Social Services woman that came around and did the financial assessment!!! I can assure you its legal.

You never know about any of this unless it happens to someone you know.

its a well kept dirty secret.

but that is way too much for what they acctually do!!!!

Exactly, if my Gran had sold her house more than 2 yrs before she needed to go into a home.....and gave all the money away.... she would have got the same space in the same home....

To take all her fucking pensions from her though??! Why do you get a state pension if the state just take it back off of you????? Why do you pay tax and national insurances for 40yrs???????

and the moral is

stay in council housing and spend all your money

To be fair, dh's grandad's flat is superb and he is in good hands. But all his money goes on his accommodation costs, all his savings etc.

But what is the answer? There is not enough money in the kitty to pay for free nursing for everyone so those that can pay do.

This is where a good solicitor comes into her own.

Trusts - even corporations - can be formed amongst one's family. Assets and even pension payouts can be transferred to said trusts or corporations. Monies, properties, shares, etc. can be left to said trusts in wills.

It's worth paying a few thousand to a good solicitor in order to protect your assets from the greedy government.

I'm in a trust w/my sister, a trust w/my mum and sister, and a third w/my dad, mum and sister. My dad and mum are a trust as well.

My dad's assets are all ready to be transferred to the appropriate trusts in case of his illness or death. Many assets have already been reassigned.

He and my mother have also conferred durable medical power of attorney on each other - on on us as secondary beneficiaries in case they are both incapacitated at the same time - in order to make decisions about their health and comply w/their wishes.

Is she still in a position to see a solicitor regarding her assets?

Might not be a bad idea.

JOOLSTOO - Hit the nail on the HEAD! She bought her house from the council...... 6yrs later she sold it for a massive profit...... and the council take all the profit back from you!

GENIUS! They don't have to maintain the house anymore...... but still make a fortune from hit.

I think it is more than 2 years toothy, I think it is 5+.

Oliveoil - Fair enough.... but to leave her with £13.50 a week!!!! Even that is a bit extreme!

oh I don't think it's fair, just a fact unfortunately. Their (wrong) attitude is probably 'what does she need money for?' .

xx

this is why MIL has said she will sell her house to dh for £1 whilst she is still in good health

So sad that it comes to this eh? What are we working toward? Being able to leave our family something when we go.... No. To give our children financial security.... No.

Oliveoil - She needs the money because she's still alive and likes clothes and has nothing much else to do but look through catelogues.....and gets great pleasure in buying her family small presents. She can't even afford a pair of shoes now. Well...... my Mum pays for them now.

Compo
She should see a solicitor about transferring the deed to that house to a trust. Then, it's technically not owned by an individual, but by a trust. Or incorporate the family - who are doing business as 'investors' and transfer the deed to the corporation. Then it falls under tax laws governing businesses and not individuals.

Actually I thought that the transfer of property had to be done 7 years prior. I also thought that the last few K of savings were not gone into. Not sure. When my Grandad was in a Nursing Home they couldn't take the house into account because my Grandma was still living in it and only half their savings. Then she died and the house and rest of savings all transferred to Grandad and I think most of the savings went on care before he died a couple of years later. Also have a great aunt who is in a home and my mum has had to sign up that she will sell the house within 8 weeks of her death and pay the council back (she is alive btw) and so we have had to clear it in order to be able to do that. It didn't really feel right to be disposing of all her things but we had no choice.