I'm New Here

New to Carers Connect
1

Hi,
As the title states I’m new here. As of September my wife and I were looking after both my mother in law and my father in law full time (one of us would go to work and the other care), he had terminal cancer and unfortunately passed away on 3rd January 2020. Mother in law has dementia, I have joined this site to see what financial assistance we are entitled to, as we’ve never been in this situation before and are finding it very daunting.

My work is very inflexible so I reckon it is going to just go along as it always had, my wife however is going to be reducing her hours.

2

It’s mum in lw’s financial situation that matters. Start by asking Social Servicescto do a Needs Assessment for her, Carers Assessment for you. She has been exempt from council tax since the dementia was diagnosed and it can be backdated!!!
Does she own her home or have over £23,000 in savings??.

3

Have a go at a benefits calculator…

Keep in mind nothing is 100% correct until the powers that me confirm it. Which mean you need to make an application. The tool is a only a guide.

Can we ask your ages.

4

As she has dementia she would be entitled to Attendance Allowance, not means tested.

How old are you?

Can she do anything for herself now?

5

Apologies for not replying to each of you, I never subscribed to the topic so was not aware there had been responses. I will work through each idea and come back to you.

She is in receipt of the higher level of PIP, can she claim attendance allowance if in receipt of pip?

My wife and I are both in our 40’s, she is wholly incapable of looking after herself. We clean, cook, shop, organise for her, it is now getting closer to the day we actually feed her. By feed her I mean the act of actually putting the food in her mouth.

She owns half her house, the other two quarters owned by my wife and brother in law, she does not have anything near £23k in savings, probably much closer to £4.5k. This is very new as father in law has only recently passed away.

I earn £30k pa and the wife has had to cut her hours back dramatically, she currently earns approximately £150 pw, we are looking at the potential of getting this figure beneath the £123 (I think it is to qualify for CA).

6

Welcome back. No need to reply individually, anyone who has contributed will get a notification that you’ve replied.

Here is my rough guide. I’m not a paid advisor but have been dealing with benefits in various ways for over 40 years!
It will point you in the direction of where to go next, and give you things to consider.

Does anyone have Power of Attorney?

Do you live with her, or have your own home?
Do you or your brother in law want to move into her house when she is no longer able to use it?

If she is disabled below pension age, she would get PIP, over pension age it’s Attendance Allowance, or in very unusual circumstances, DLA.

If she is getting PIP, that suggests she is under pension age?
If this is the case, make sure she is getting the highest rate for both care and mobility. This is VERY important to sort out.

As she is receiving a disability benefit, your wife is probably eligible if she earns less than the £123. Make sure you read up on the expenses she can deduct from her earnings.
If she has under £23,000 in savings, then Social Services would pay for some or all of her care whilst she is still living at home.
Has anyone mentioned NHS Continuing Healthcare to you? Ask her GP to arrange an assessment for her. FREE care, whatever is needed, either at home or in residential care.

As she only owns half the house, it is very likely that the value of the house would be disregarded if she moved into residential care when only getting Social Services care. What they call a “Property Disregard”.

Hope that helps. Carers UK have an advice line to give accurate information but I’m not sure if it’s running at the moment. I’m grounded by the pandemic, so will pop in here later.

7

Bowlingbun thank you for the response.

My wife is waiting for power of attorney to be transferred to her from her father, applied 03/03/20.

We have moved her into our house and her house is currently empty. The intent is to sell the property once the will is read, probate done etc etc, covid 19 permitting. So no definitive timeframe, we are not intending to rent it out.

She is currently in receipt of PIP and in receipt of it at the higher rate, she is now 69 years of age. Would we need to apply for attendance allowance and cancel PIP or is that something that would automatically happen? Out of interest would attendance allowance be a lesser or greater amount as a rule to the higher rate of PIP?

No we haven’t heard of NHS continuing healthcare.

I am really grateful for all the guidance given.

8

No we haven’t heard of NHS continuing healthcare.

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/all-about-caring/chc-coughlan-grogan-judgements-pointon-ruling-nhs-contuing-healthcare-nhs-fnc-hospital-discharges-all-here-35998

9

No need to apply for AA if she is getting PIP. In these circumstances, the PIP keeps going. The big advantage is that if she has the PIP Mobility Component before she retired, that keeps going. Those over retirement age don’t qualify for the Mobility, which to my way of thinking is so unfair.

Do NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES sell the house until you have sorted out the Continuing Healthcare. Tell anyone that she is with you “temporarily” and that you DO want to rent it out.

As soon as you sell it and mum has the money for her half, then Social Services will want that to pay for ALL her care.
Once you have sorted out the CHC, it doesn’t matter.

You also need to go back to the solicitors, talk to them about a “Deed of Variation” so that mum’s share of the house is protected. I know it’s odd, but one of these deeds can be used to rewrite the will!!

10

Care home fees are £800-£1500 per week!