Can we be made homeless

[Cazcaz]

Hi, me again, sorry.

ok, so, I live with my paerents and my sister in our parent’s home. My sister has Asbergers Syndrome but works as a cleaner. My mother has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I am unemployed.

ive read so much over the last couple of weeks, but some of it feels like swimming through treacle. I’m just muddled. Can I check if I’ve got some things right please?

1 If mum went into care now she would have to self fund as she has around £100,000 in her own savings/half of joint savings combined. While dad is at home his savings, half the joint savings and the house stay with him. Right?

2. If dad died or needed to go into care himself then the rest of the savings would go to self fund him. While my sister gets DLA the house COULD in theory POSSIBLY be with her/me and her. But if she was transferred to PIP and refused, could we have to sell the house?

3. Is the LA under any obligation to look after us in any way ie stop us being homeless? Combined we have about £80,000 in savings. But with her job locally and neither of us able to drive, we would need to stay local or both be unemployed. Local rents are over £1000 pm plus costs. So our savings would be gone in 3 years max I guess. Do the LA have any call on them to home us?

is there anything anyone knows of that I might have missed? Sorry to ask but mum/sister aren’t capable of asking and dad is getting so lost in it all he doesn’t know where to turn and I’m not doing very well in working out where we stand. The earlier we can get things clear in our minds, the happier we will all be and find it easier to deal with.

any help gratefully received.

many thanks

 

[Grannie G]

You have a lot of responsibility @Cazcaz and I wouldn`t attempt to advise with the knowledge I have although others may be more able.

I can only suggest you contact Dementia Connect and I`m sure you will be given the correct information from them.

Homepage | Dementia Connect

dementiaconnect.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[canary]

Hi @Cazcaz
I do feel that you are rather overthinking this.

When your mum moves into care, yes the house will be disregarded and only her savings, plus 50% of joint savings will be taken into consideration

If your dad also goes into care (which, from what you have said, isnt on the cards) then the house will be disregarded because your sister is disabled. There is no maybe about it - a relative living in the house who is disabled means that it is a mandatory disregard.

Theoretically, if your sister lost DLA and PIP and was no longer considered disabled, then the house would cease to be disregarded, but honestly - your sister isnt going to magically recover from Asperger's and if she were turned down for PIP, Im sure it would be reinstated on appeal.

Im sorry if my reply on your other thread frightened you. I had not put two and two together. The difference between your sister and my OH is that he does not have a diagnosis that I can slap on the table at PIP assessment, but nevertheless, if he were turned down Im sure it would be reinstated on appeal. I really dont think you need worry too much about your sister losing disability status.

 

[Cazcaz]

Hi @Cazcaz
I do feel that you are rather overthinking this.

When your mum moves into care, yes the house will be disregarded and only her savings, plus 50% of joint savings will be taken into consideration

If your dad also goes into care (which, from what you have said, isnt on the cards) then the house will be disregarded because your sister is disabled. There is no maybe about it - a relative living in the house who is disabled means that it is a mandatory disregard.

Theoretically, if your sister lost DLA and PIP and was no longer considered disabled, then the house would cease to be disregarded, but honestly - your sister isnt going to magically recover from Asperger's and if she were turned down for PIP, Im sure it would be reinstated on appeal.

Im sorry if my reply on your other thread frightened you. I had not put two and two together. The difference between your sister and my OH is that he does not have a diagnosis that I can slap on the table at PIP assessment, but nevertheless, if he were turned down Im sure it would be reinstated on appeal. I really dont think you need worry too much about your sister losing disability status.

Thank you for your answer.

You are right, of course, I probably am over thinking things. It just when there’s 4 people here but only me and dad capable of sorting things out, we both feel a lot of pressure/responsibility. But I will try to take a step back and relax and process everything more slowly.

Thank you also for your confirmation of the other points. I had read some posts on other websites that were quite contradictory and confusing. eg lots of sites including this one say a joint owned home can’t be taken while one person is still there, but I found one site saying that only applies to couples on low income or benefits, and some sites saying the disregard on disabilities only applied if the disability stopped the person working. So much to read, to weed out the misinformation, which is why I was so confused.
Thanks again.

 

[DennyD]

Don't worry about whether you are overthinking or not. It is natural to feel the way you do. It is a difficult situation that you and your family are facing. If felt like life was spiralling out of control when first being faced with having to deal with life being thrown upside down - to be honest, still do at time. You naturally want to find out about how to move forward and what you might have to deal with and all the information out there can at times be more a hindrance than helpful. As mentioned by Sylvia you could start with contacting Dementia Connect and take it from there. I also found the information provided by Age Uk helpful, as it is presented in an understandable manner.
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/paying-for-care/
All the best to you and your family.

 

[Palerider]

I avoided chatting with the financial assessor of the LA social services, until I had to, but to be fair I found them very helpful in stating what they would disregard, what they would take off mum for payment of her care and also to consider CHC funding and also what they would consider as alternatives. I know its very disconcerting having to deal with this as I was in a similar situation two years ago now. In the end the LA disregarded the house although I had no dissability and was below the age of 60, because I had lived with mum and cared for her for 4.5 years. They resolved in the end to take only her pension as payment for her care. Since then mum has qualified for CHC funding and rightly so given her needs now.

You will find lots of posts about this, some misguided and some very informative. What I would do is contact the Demetia Connect @Grannie G has posted and also be proactive and contact your local authority to get a general picture of what they would disregard. People of often think if they don't fit the general criteria they can't ask, but that isn't entirely true, at the end of the day its at the LA's discretion.