Complicated One

[Mumof3911]

Unfortunately my Dad was admitted to hospital recently and has been diagnosed with dementia.

Talk has already turned to what care he will need and if he can be at home. Our parents are not short of money and my dad has worked all his life and hardly spent a penny on himself therefore we know he could easily afford the private care he will most likely require.

However my mum along with my step sisters are more interested in preserving this money for their own enjoyment once he is gone.

They have already looked at nursing homes for him and believe they can place him in a NHS home meaning they don't have to spend a penny. Myself and my sister who are his biological children want him to receive the care he rightfully deserves.

Is there anything legally we can do to ensure this?

Unless they have somehow managed to hide the money very very well The Council will find it and make him self fund if its over the threshold.
Even if they think they have hidden it The Council can still come after it for "deprivation of assets" , Councils have a whole team who's job this is and people rarely get away with it

I wouldn’t worry if I was you, it’s not up to them. If he has the money then he will have to self-fund until he reaches the threshold. If they have tried to hide the money then they will be done for deprivation of assets.

Is there any Power of Attorney in place?

There are two separate questions here.

"...want him to receive the care he rightfully deserves ... Is there anything legally we can do to ensure this?"

This will come down to who is named on a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

Even though your dad has been diagnosed with dementia, if it is still in the early stages then he can agree to an LPA as long as he has not deteriorated to a point where he has been declared mentally incapacitated by a doctor or similar.

The LPA can be written so that all of the Attorneys must act together or that they may act individually on certain things.

For example, it can be written to say that he must stay in the family home unless there is medical advice otherwise. It can also be written that he must not be moved to any particular care home unless all Attorneys agree.

So, yes, it can certainly be done. But getting your mum and step sisters to go along with setting it up in the first place and including you and your sisters as Attorneys may be quite a battle. I have no idea what your family dynamics are like.
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The second question is about payment of the fees. If your mum or any of the children are living in the family home when he goes into care and they are over the age of 60 then the value of the home is disregarded for the financial evaluation.

If he has any assets in his own name then they will count those and also a 50% share of any joint bank accounts etc.

If he has over about £23,000 of assets in his own name etc then he will have to use those to pay care home fees.

Yes but not with either of us unfortunately and we seem to be the only ones interested in his wellbeing rather than finical gains if something was to happen to him. The house is not really suitable for him to go back too as my mum has filled every room they have with junk basically including his bedroom. We mentioned our concerns to the hospital and they have said there is nothing they can do as they choose to live like that. Unfortunately my dad hasn't had a choice.

@Mumof3911 sadly this is the time when peoples true characters come to the surface.

Care, be it in the home or a care home, it expensive. Good quality care is very expensive. If you care for a person and they have the income plus savings the cost is way down the priority list because what you want is the best place for the person.

Sadly, some people only care about the money and their inheritance.

As a pp says, the important thing is who has the LPA because they are effectively in charge. It is very difficult, time consuming and expensive to challenge an LPA and get it overturned.

I am sorry you are going through this.

Thank you, yes it’s so difficult as we don’t have any say in that. Unfortunately he has worked so hard his entire life and would never spend a penny on him self. Now the time he needs it unfortunately others have different plans.

Could you speak to the dementia care team? Not the hospital but whoever he's been discharged to. Failing that I'd contact the GP with your concerns. It might go nowhere but at least your worries will be recorded