|
Hello, Mum has worked all her adult life, single parent low income jobs, she retired two years ago has a small set of investments with a local firm that pay enough to live on with the pension she also has around 40,000 in ISA, house with no mortgage 80-100k and 15,000 in a building society account, not bad and was looking good even though we have always wanted her to spend on herself she did all of this so that she had something to pass on to me. Last year she was diagnosed with alzheimer's it is not to bad at the moment. What she does not want to happen is her money get used up by the Government if she ends up needing to go into care. I have power of attorney for financial matters. What can we do to keep her money available but out of the hands of those she does not want to have it. Have heard quite a few horror stories about funds being run dry by local council services looking after dementia patients. Unfortunately we can not just transfer the money in to my name while she is still well because I am on long term sick and primary carer for my wife who is disabled with the benefits we are on we can not have our own savings.
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2015 19:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 06:11 |
|
|
I'd recommend going to citizens advice. They should be able to explain what the council can and can't take and maybe help. Having a paid off house doesn't count as savings I don't think for the purposes of benefits but I can't see any way you'd get to keep the 40k and keep your benefits.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2015 20:36
|
|
|
I will look into our local citizens advice, my idea and granted I am clueless about this kind of thing, leave the investments as they are paying the bills, cash out the isa plus savings, store it in a secure location, is it worth investing in gold or something like that which can be kept in a bank safety deposit box (calculating it as £55,000) which is not being used and goes up by £800 a month even with bills and spending money.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2015 23:34
|
|
|
If you can't have your own savings, why would an inheritance be any different?
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2015 23:44
|
|
|
An inheritance would get used up very quickly we live in a council medical assist bungalow at the moment and all is up to standard for disability access, if anything happens to my mum we move into her house and the money will be spent on getting it ready for my wife and as energy efficient as possible.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2015 23:55
|
|
|
The council will means test your mums estate if she wants to go into council care, which includes the house, savings etc. Even if it's a bag of gold under the bed. Trying to avoid paying for care home fees by giving away your assets is technically illegal - nobody will be going to prison here, but if they see that you were given £100k two years beforehand, and just after she was diagnosed, they can count that money as part of her estate. Which means you need to spend it on her. What I will say is that people who go into care generally have to do so because they lack the support of a family network. It's not the fault of the family but it's unrealistic to look after someone when you've got a full time job, kids, etc. My point here is that a care home isn't the first and only resort and if you're in a position to look after her in the future then that's a strong position to be in. The investments she has pay her bills, like you say, but if you were to move in then your benefits would essentially pay the bills and her income could cover costs of nurses to come to the house and help you out. The 55k cash she has could either sit in a bank account or be converted into bonds (or some other financial instrument), increasing that income further. Because this money would remain in her estate and not yours it may not affect your benefits. There are all sorts of things you can do to make it easier for dementia sufferers to stay in their own home. Things like labelling cupboards with pictures of what's in them, increasing lighting, buying isolation switches for electrical and gas appliances so they switch off automatically, etc. There are plenty of horror stories of peoples estates disappearing to pay for care, but there are also plenty of horror stories of people putting their relatives into care because they just don't know how to look after them themselves. A simple thing like a floral carpet can confuse sufferers because their brain can't remember the pattern so every time they go into that room they'll think it's a different room, then they start wandering through the house trying to work out where they are and next thing you know they're outside at 3am in the rain. Change that carpet to a single neutral colour, bam, save yourself thirty six grand a year.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2015 19:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 06:11 |
|
|
If you've got family you trust you need to split the funds up now. If I remember rightly I think it's 7 years you need any money from her in your possession or the HMRC will tax it. You've got a good amount for a one bed flat there in an inner city (I.e. not London) Dump the money into that in your name. Draw rent to pay the mortgage and you've not only got rid of your problem but you've got yourself some income once the small mortgage is paid off.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2015 08:45
|
|