As
@SeaSwallow says your first priority is to contact your LA to arrange a financial assessment.
Top ups are voluntary and have no legal basis and nobody can force you to pay them. The possible outcomes could be:
- You refuse to pay the top up and the home accepts whatever the LA funding rate is.
- You refuse to pay the top up and the home won't accept the LA funding rate which means your MiL may be asked to leave. If this is the outcome then the LA will need to find at least one other home within their area that accepts their funding rate and can meet you MiLs needs. If that home has no availability or there are no other homes available which can meet her needs then the LA must increase it's funding for your MiLs current home.
Top ups should only be required when there is a genuine uplift in the service provided by the care home and should not be used as a means to plug the gap between the LA and self-funding rate. Unfortunately, that's not how it works in reality.
