Social services asking for money..what rights do I have ?

[onestepat]

I was my grans appointee with DWP
She has moved into care home.
They've taken control of finances as it will be government funded
I have gave them bank account details as she has a few thousand in.
She has a tin which has two thousand in.
After speaking with aunt we decided that money (tin money )would be kept with her insurance books and use that when she passes away (hopefully not for years ) to give her a lovely funeral.
Now social services have asked for that tin.
Do I have to hand it over?

I agree with PP. talk to them directly and explore the options. If you're legally granted powers to manage her money you'll still need to put it in the bank as financial abuse of people who cannot manage their money is rife so transparency is really important.

You have no rights over money that isn't yours. Either tell them you can't find the tin, use that money to pre-pay a funeral for her, or hand it over.

Are you able to take your nan i to your own home and give her 24 hour care as she will have in a Care Home?
If so take the tin and take control of all your nans finances and you wont have to deal with the Social Workers.

It doesn't matter that she has no will.
Her estate pays for the funeral. Everything else comes afterwards.

If having told them about it you backtrack, they will be very suspicious of you and your intentions.

I can't provide 24 hour care,I wish I could.
I would do anything to have her home but there's nobody to help me and the carers only offer 30 mins max 4x a day.
There's no way I can stay home for 22 hours a day.
I'm going to tell them my aunt wants to be deputy.
I don't want all the pressure.

Do you physically have the tin? What if your house gets burgled or burns down? I really think this money should be in the bank whoever has control of the finances.

If your Aunt is deputy the money will still have to be properly managed in a bank account. Even though I'm sure your intentions are honourable it makes your Gran massively vulnerable to abuse having so much cash hanging around.

My house has never been burgled or burnt down in 35 years but I see where your coming from when you think logically.

@NerrSnerr that's the thing I would prefer if it was being managed by my aunt
I don't know it would just feel safer

OP, have you postedbefore about looking after your gran?
If so, you have had loads of advice around this.
If I am thinking of someone else in similar circumstances I do apologise.
Age UK give very good advice in these situations.
What a pity your gran didn't make a will or sort out POA.
Is she mentally capable of making a will? Or is it too late?
If she can, she really should.

Hi Op, older persons social worker here!
Why have they taken over management of her money? Have they applied for appointeeship?
If so, we would not normally do that if there were available family unless their were safeguarding concerns.
You can absolutely say you would like to continue to be your Nans appointee.
Declaring the money is a separate issue. They have to take all savings into account, cash or otherwise. Saying it’s lost is deprivation of assets and we take it really seriously.
Your Nan will not be paying everything to her care unless she has over 23,250 in savings and property. The local authority will be paying a significant proportion towards it which is why a part can’t just be kept aside, for what ever reason.
You could ask if you could pay for a funeral plan with the money from the tin, which we have done before.
If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

@Mooey89 hiya they said because she has no house to sell that they normally take control of her finances.
I didn't question it because I've had zero dealings with social services or care homes etc before.
Now that I know this isn't the case I'm not happy with it.
Can I ask
Who would be able to take over finances ?
Could it be my aunt or another family member ?

You haven't answered the question has your gran got assets over £23000. Anything over the £23000 pays for her stay in the care home. They take her pension into account.
And any other benefits. After any money over the £23000 has been spent then her care will be paid by the health service.
Unfortunately it's not up to you to keep any money to stop payment for her care.
We are going through this at the moment but we already had Poa in place so social services are not in charge of Mils money. Our social worker is very helpful she is giving us a lot of advice. We also contacted Age UK for any help they are very helpful.

Anyone appropriate and willing.
Are you sure they have applied for appointeeship and aren’t just doing a financial assessment and paying towards her care?

@Noidea2114 sorry I wrote on my first post she has a few thousand in the bank and the tin.
So under £6,000
She also has a life policy with prudential for under £3,000

It's the same with my mum. Social services takes everything and leaves her with £29 pocket money pw. Even when social services undercharged her for something I had to pay it all back although it was their mistake not mine.

@Mooey89 yes they've applied to take control but I honestly feel the social worker didn't explain what was happening.
She didn't tell me anything
I didn't even know her first 6 weeks were free
Can we now say we want someone else to do it ?
Or are we too late ?

Why does she get 6 weeks free?

You can ask the carehome for a meeting. Ask if your nana has had a capacity assessment. If she lacks capacity then maybe ss have applied to the court of protection to look after her affairs. If so you can say you or aunt would prefer to be deputy and soeak to the c.o.p. to apply. The money in the tin is part of her estate. Can it not just be paid into her bank account.

SS will just put the money in her bank account. I think a person can keep 23k and still get care paid for by tax payer. My auntie had her house sold and was in care for many years with dementia. Over that time SS took all of her money including pension and even including an inheritance her sister left her until she was left with just 23k. Shortly after that she died. There was plenty of money left for her funeral and new headstone as her husbands headstone was too small to have her added too. SS gave her weekly allowance of £30 week to keep for herself for having her hair done and new clothing.

They did not take or sell my aunties engagement or wedding ring or any of her jewelry. She gave her jewelry to me and my sister's before she died and when we visited her she liked us to wear it.

Surely the 6 week free care is irrelevant if someone is receiving a council funded carehome place. Its the council who pay the fees not the resident.

Put it in her bank account as she has so little there is no need for them to "manage," the finances

I might be wrong but I think you are transferring your worries about your nan's care onto caring for the money. If you trust SS with your precious nan, they can be trusted with a tin of money.

I hope all the people on here encouraging the OP to lie are lobbying for much higher taxes to pay for social care.

I don't mean to sound rude or horrible, but can I ask why you, if you're so distrusting of social services you allowed them to 'take control' of her finances as you've said, without asking any questions?