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?
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...
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/
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
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
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.
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,
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.