Proceeds from house sale

[DW1]

Hello, I am looking for some advice please.
Mum has been in EMI care since September 2011, with fees paid partly paid from her pensions and deferred payment. After much deliberation I have decided to sell her house, which is going through very smoothly, when she will then become totally self funding.

My question is which is the best place to invest the proceeds of the sale? I have POA and could put it into my mums account, which I can access but will only pay minimal interest, or I can, for total ease of management, put it into a current account in my name, but am unsure if I will be liable for tax. I also want to invest some of the proceeds into a longer term investment to make as much interest as possible, but will this interest be used to contribute more to her fees, or is it just the amount raised from the sale?

I dont want to do anything wrong, but want to protect my mums finances and make them work for her, without having to contribute even more the the LA in care home fees.

Thanks
xxx

 

[jenniferpa]

Well you shouldn't be putting it in your own name: your name as attorney for your mums name, yes, but not in your own name as you will be opening yourself for all sorts of problems.

As an attorney you can open the same sorts of accounts/make investments etc in exactly the same way your mother could do if she was not ill.

I'm not sure about your mention of the LA? When the house is sold, the deferred payment scheme will come to its end and you (or rather your mother) will be fully self-funded so the LA will no longer be contributing anything. So it's in your mother's best interest to maximize the investment.

The only situation I can think of where perhaps this wouldn't be the best route is if, after paying of the deferred payment agreement, there wasn't much above the maximum savings amount. In that case you might want to actually look around to see how that could be spent down (pre-paid funeral plans are a fairly good option for that). But even then, you'd have to be fiscally responsible.

 

[ggma]

We sold Mum's bungalow, and then took advice from a finacial advisor. This was really helpful and we kept some back in an account as POA for Mum to use for immediate needs and fees, and then investested in trusts advised by Financial Advisor.

I have to say following the advice has worked for us, I have just had a statement the investment has done well in the last 12 months. We have a scheme whereby we can draw down so much money each month to help with the fees, and we also have Mum's pension to add in and use as well.

I would recommend taking independent financial advice.