My MIL is in a care home and fully funds at present. She and FIL were tenants in common with their property so when he died and she went into the care home the house was sold and dads half went into a separate account as it wasn’t legally hers. She’s currently paying over £4500 a month out of her half. At some point next year she will be down to the £23500 threshold. Dads half of the money is in an account in the names of their three children, including my husband. They agreed to not touch it in case it was needed to carry on funding mums care and all three have to approve of any change to this. When it comes to getting her case reassessed due to her money running out what is the procedure? Will they ask if there is any third party funding and if so at what stage? If there is a chance of them fully funding her continued residence at the home then obviously they would take that option. The whole point of being TIC with the house was so the three children would have some sort of inheritance but they feel a moral obligation to mum to support her. Any advice of info would be appreciated as to the procedure if you can help out. Many thanks.
Hi - that is exactly the situation my parents were in. TIC and then Mum died so when the house was sold I put her half into a flat for Dad and when he moved into a Care Home that was kept aside. His ONLY assets were his bank account and national savings where he had invested his half of the house. In our case it was done to be tax efficinet as the house had rocketed in value and if it had come down to one parent who owned the whole thing we would have been stung with IHT. In the end it was just below the threshold for each half!
I would think that if MIL’s share has been sold then there is no way there can be any clawback from Dad’s half of the property as it was not her’s in the first place.
I believe you’re right but in our case it’s more a moral issue. The ‘children all feel that dads money which is rightfully and legally theirs should be available for mum should it be needed. I’m curious about what would happen if they said there was no third party funding but wanted her to stay in the same care home. How far is it likely the LA would go in terms of what they would fund.
That’s a difficult question to answer. I fear that would depend on a particular LA
@Chris_22081 is right, @Angela_2105 - it is down to individual local authorities, which generally will have a standard fee they’ll pay towards care home placements, depending on the level of need. For example, a person with advanced dementia will be allocated a higher level of funding than someone with lower care needs because their dementia is less advanced, but someone with higher physical care needs and dementia might need more care, and therefore more funding. In my area they call it a banding system. Other authorities probably have something similar.
It is time for mum to have a Social Services Assessment. Once she reaches the threshold for support, the council should take over the payments this way. Do not volunteer any information about money that legally belongs to others. Is she currently receiving Attendance Allowance? Funded Nursing Care? Has she been assessed for entitlement to free NHS Continuing Healthcare?
Hi. She does receive AA but hasn’t yet had any further assessments. We thought it was too soon but just trying to get info ahead of time to see where we stand.
Hi Angela, you need to start the ball rolling with Social Services as soon as possible, as they are very, very slow.
In Hampshire, where I live, anyone in a nursing home is automatically given about £150 Funded Nursing Care allowance every week from the NHS, so if mum is in a nursing home, do check.
Usually there has to be a negative CHC assessment before you get FNC.
Also, Social Services should ensue that a CHC assessment has been done before they do their financial assessment.
Both Social Services and the NHS seem to “accidentally on purpose” forget some of the rules.
Can I ask what the main reason is for mum being in a home? Don’t say if you don’t want to.
Hi bowlingbun. Mum has dementia which is progressing. It’s not a nursing home. Currently paying £4600 odd a month.