Care Home Costs

[Myriad2112]

Hello again,
My elderly mother (a lewy body dementia patient) is currently being cared for on a full time basis by Mrs Myriad. This is fine short term but will eventually result in having to put her in a care home. My mother has litrally no savings (I believe the ceiling is £23'000) but owns her house outright which has been left to me in her will. Does this mean that if/when this happens I will have to sell her home to pay for her care?
I have searched the internet but still can't find a definitive answer. Can anybody help?

[Buenchico]

The simple answer to your question is 'Yes', because the value of her home will be included in the means test.

See here:
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/care-homes/the-means-test-and-your-property/

However once your mother's assets (including the money from her home) got down to £23,250 then only any income earned from the top £9000 of that amount would count towards her assets. (So, at that stage the local authority would pay the full costs of her care minus the interest on £9000):
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/care-homes/paying-for-permanent-residential-care/

Contact Age UK if you need further help.

[bednobs]

yes, she will have to sell her home. You can get a "12 week property disregard" which means that ss will pay the first 12 weeks while you/she decides if the move will be permanent. After that you can delay until you sell, but they will want the payment in full when that happens
depending n where you live, fees are usually around £1k pw

[woofgang]

she may also be entitled to be paid a care component which is not means tested and broadly is paid to people who are in residential care and who need some nursing care as opposed to all carer care

[Myriad2112]

Thank you for your answers.
I was under the impression that they could only take a certain percentage of the proceeds of a sale. Obviously I'm wrong.

I'm sure that this is the seed for another debate but who on this planet costs 1K a week to look after? Surely that amounts to extortion. My wife gets £61.00 per week carers allowance to do the same job. If she can do it surely so can they.

[bundleone]

I can never understand how it costs so much in a care home when you are expected live on about £150 and pay gas electric, water, council tax,phone, not mention food. It just doesn't,t make sense,

[kirstybeebee]

My late mother had dementia and was in a care home for the last three years of her life from 2014 - 2017 and we had to pay the full cost of her care which was £27,000 a year until full nursing care was required it rose to £38,000 a year. So certainly not as much as 1K per week and this was in one of the best care homes in the area. It would seem that there could be a big variation in costs depending on where you live.

[Buenchico]

Thanks for 'best answer'.

You can view typical care home costs here:
http://www.which.co.uk/elderly-care/financing-care/financing-a-care-home/381597-care-home-fees