What are our options with the house?

[Smivy19]

My 87 year old father in law has mixed dementia and has been living in a nursing home for just over a year now. He is a self-funder and will not be able to return home as his needs are too great. We have POA and are considering what to do with his house. As I understand it we have several options:

1. Sell his home now when his savings are not near the £23k limit – saving the hassle of maintaining the home, keeping an eye on it etc but earn a poor return on the funds.

2. Sell his home later when his savings are getting close to the £23k limit. Might mean the house has increased in value but we will still have to keep an eye on it in the meantime. Increased stress as the funds run out if it doesn't sell quickly and we have to reduce the price.

3. When his savings are getting low (close of the £23k limit) ask the local council to complete a financial assessment. Then enter into a Deferred Payment Arrangement. I understand this to mean the council pay the care home fees, they put a charge on his home for a fee (£500?), charge 2.65% interest on all monies paid to the care home which they expect to be repaid within 3 months of his death when the house is sold. Will they pay the full amount (currently £1100 per week) or just the local authority rate meaning he’d either have to move to a cheaper home or we would have to top up the fees with his remaining money?

4. If we refurbished the property could we let it out to generate some additional income with a DPA in place?

Any comments/advice appreciated.

 

[Shedrech]

hi @Smivy19
I opted for the sell it now so it's all done and dusted - none of the options are stress free but I couldn't face being responsible for that property as well as my own, and then having to deal with it when my dad dies - it wasn't a long-standing family home so I had no particular attachment to it

 

[jenniferpa]

I think you've got a good handle on the options. Unless you have an emotional attachment to the home or you think it will appreciate substantially, then personally I'd sell it.

The only question that you really have I can partially answer: how much will the LA pay? Assuming the value of the home supports it, they will pay what ever you need up to a maximum of the value of the home less 10%, less £14,250 (assuming there are no other assets). If they believe that the care home payments will, over time, exceed this amount then they can reduce those payments accordingly. And they have a duty to tell you if this is likely to result in a shortfall.

If you are prepared to put in the work an option might be to rent the property (which is a hassle but provides you with the opportunity to benefit from possibly increased property prices and to a certain extent off-set care home fees, while a tenant in the house at least means its being lived in). But there's no denying - a lot of people simply don't wish to do this. I don't think under any circumstances I would consider keeping the home but leave it empty.

 

[Rosettastone57]

My 87 year old father in law has mixed dementia and has been living in a nursing home for just over a year now. He is a self-funder and will not be able to return home as his needs are too great. We have POA and are considering what to do with his house. As I understand it we have several options:

1. Sell his home now when his savings are not near the £23k limit – saving the hassle of maintaining the home, keeping an eye on it etc but earn a poor return on the funds.

2. Sell his home later when his savings are getting close to the £23k limit. Might mean the house has increased in value but we will still have to keep an eye on it in the meantime. Increased stress as the funds run out if it doesn't sell quickly and we have to reduce the price.

3. When his savings are getting low (close of the £23k limit) ask the local council to complete a financial assessment. Then enter into a Deferred Payment Arrangement. I understand this to mean the council pay the care home fees, they put a charge on his home for a fee (£500?), charge 2.65% interest on all monies paid to the care home which they expect to be repaid within 3 months of his death when the house is sold. Will they pay the full amount (currently £1100 per week) or just the local authority rate meaning he’d either have to move to a cheaper home or we would have to top up the fees with his remaining money?

4. If we refurbished the property could we let it out to generate some additional income with a DPA in place?

Any comments/advice appreciated.

We sold my mother in law 's house as soon as she went into her care home. This was in the autumn and we didn't want to maintain the place during the winter. We didn't want the hassle of being landlords

 

[Liepy]

We also sold my mums house but luckily we had a private buyer. Renting it out would have barely made a dent in care home fees. We had no emotional attachment to it. The hardest thing was throwing so many memories out whilst she was still alive. It was empty for a year and this was always a worry. Good luck

 

[Norfolk Cherry]

I find renting out the house and using the deferred payment scheme works well. The rent and pensions pretty much cover mum's costs. If you can rent to what is termed the professional market, the risk element is reduced. We use a pre paid call out scheme to cover problems with heating and plumbing which avoids problems if we are away. It depends on where the property is and its' condition.

 

[canary]

When you are doing your sums, do bare in mind that care home fees usually rise significantly higher than inflation due to the increasing care needs.

 

[Smivy19]

Thank you everyone for your responses

 

[Susan11]

We also sold my mums house but luckily we had a private buyer. Renting it out would have barely made a dent in care home fees. We had no emotional attachment to it. The hardest thing was throwing so many memories out whilst she was still alive. It was empty for a year and this was always a worry. Good luck

Hi My Mum went into care and now I'm emptying her house. I'm keeping all the good stuff and giving lots to Charity but it's heart breaking giving away her things. She hasn't asked about the house recently but it will have to be sold soon. I've been advised not to tell her . What did you do ?

 

[canary]

I've been advised not to tell her . What did you do ?

I didnt tell my mum at all. She would have been very upset and would not have understood the reason at all.
Why distress her for no reason?

 

[Amy in the US]

I also never told my mother that we had cleared and sold her home. As Canary notes, it would only have caused upset and distress and as we were working hard to get her anxiety under control at the time, there was no chance I would ever have said anything that could possibly have caused agitation.

I agree it's strange and unpleasant and upsetting to do this. It's bad enough when someone has died, but not unexpected in that case. We don't anticipate having to do this for someone who is still with us, but unable to participate AND for us not to be able to even mention it, let alone discuss it with them. Dementia has a lot to answer for.

 

[Elle3]

I also went for the option of selling my dad's home even though there was a lot of emotional attachment as my mum and dad had lived there for over 54 years and it's where I grew up. If it had been in other circumstances I would liked to have kept it, modernised it and maybe rented it out, but like others have said I didn't want the responsibility of keeping an empty house safe over Winter, especially as it had no central heating. Selling it also mean't no more bills.

My dad has never mentioned his home and I haven't told him it has been sold, he wouldn't understand anyway. But I have to say I couldn't help but feel guilty about it all.

 

[mickeym]

Could someone advise me? My mum is in care home.Dad Died.the house is hers. I rent from a private landlord now and would like to rent her house as I do have an emotional attachement tot it.I am her Deputy with the Court of Protection. do you think I an do this and how do I go about it? I don't want to rent it out to strangers. Her wish, my fathers wish, my brothers wish, her brothers wish was always that both mum and I benefit from her home. unfortunate Dementia took mum and dad by surprise and they had not made any provision writing hence me being a deputy. Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.