DH thought he had power of attorney for fils finances but he doesn't.

[MrsKoala]

Fil has dementia and 2 years ago dh spoke to a solicitor about POA (I was there when we brought up the subject when we were doing our wills). It all went thru and documents were sent out. DH is adamant he spoke about health and finances (as we did when we spoke at our will meeting).

Now fil is in need of going to a care home and we told SS we have POA (also in the last 2 years we showed the POA to another solicitor when dealing with fil property, the bank and council and utility companies when dealing with finances). They have asked to see it and when DH showed it to them they say it doesn't cover finances.

So what can we do now? Fil needs his flat sold to pay for care and we have been using his finances to pay for things for him for the last 2 years. Will we be in trouble? FIl also owns our house, will they make us sell it?

If his need for care arises from his fall is he not eligible for Continuing Health Care? It's not means tested but based on primary medical need so your FIL's assets won't be considered in the short term. You might have to fight for it though, the NHS/SS are very reluctant to award it.

It might buy you time to get the POA sorted.

His need for care is not from his fall. It's because he has end stage dementia. He cannot be left alone anymore as it wouldn't be safe.

We need to have an appointment with our solicitor because we are confused (and arguing) about what exactly is seen as a gift or fils money still.

I'll explain the situation here and i'd really appreciate anyone who knows to advise us:

3 years ago fil gave us x amount to put towards our house. two thirds was a gift, but one third was meant as a loan to be paid back should he need money in the future. There is some kind of solicitor document drawn up saying he has a third share. But his name is not on the deeds.

This was before he had a diagnosis of dementia and was a physically fit 76 year old (altho we did suspect his memory was starting to go but DH insisted he'd always been like that and mil had just died so the drs said it was probably grief). Mil and him were adamant before she died that they wanted us to buy this house (we had already just bought another much smaller house).

8 months later he was diagnosed with dementia but only prescribed talking therapies and was still living alone and shopping for himself etc. Then a year later DH got the POA done while fil could still consent happily. In the last 6 months his dementia seemed to accelerate and by Nov we were doing all of his shopping and he wasn't going out of the flat without DH. We were concerned our visits wouldn't be enough so called SS to do an assessment in the first week of Dec. Two days before the assessment fil fell and broke his hip. His mental health has deteriorated rapidly since then to where we are now.

So my question really is, is the two thirds of our house which was a gift still considered a gift or is he owed the whole amount back? SS seem to think it's the latter. But google says if it's over 6 months from the need for care then it can still be a gift and the longer between the gift and the need for care the more likely it is a gift rather than care bill avoidance. For us it's been 3 years since the gift.

We could get a mortgage to pay him back his third. But would need to sell the house if we need to give the full amount back. We need to know so we can proceed. I just want to get it sorted and feel like it's hanging over us.

We don't claim any allowance. We always thought we didn't need it so chose not to. But I think we will need to look into it now and put it away for fil.

There's no need to mess about with loans / selling it below market value etc. The council will allow you to make a deferred payment once the house is sold.

There is also the 12 week property disregard that he might be eligible for. Whatever happens make sure his placement is arranged by the council and he is financially assessed as this should make an awful lot of this a lot clearer.

Ultimately the situation with your property only matters once the money from his own house has run out, so I would try not to worry too much at this point.

No they wont. The financial assessors have told us they will not pay deferred payment at all because he has 'other assets'. His placement was not arranged by the council as they put him miles away and then the home they put him in refused to continue with his cre and put him in an ambulance back to a&e. No one would take him so SS were looking at 2+ hours drive away and heavily medicating him because when he doesn't see DH for days he becomes aggressive. So we have arranged for a home on the same road as us and DH can see him every day.

We have already paid £7500 from our own money for his first month and now they want another £5000 on 1st May - which we don't have.

How is the situation with FIL MrsK? Hope you have found more clarity on the financial side and FIL has settled somewhat in the home.

Can you contact the Office of the Public Guardian tomorrow as they will tell you if a Property and Financial Affairs LPA was registered for your FIL.

I would also contact CA or a solicitor for advice.