Hello, I’m new here and would appreciate some advice.
Our background is as follows:
My MIL was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s some years ago and has been in permanent care for over a year. She is self-funding. Her husband (step-FIL) still lives in the house they own jointly, not far from her care home in northern England. Both have their own savings and investments in addition to the property. My step-FIL holds financial POA for his wife, so now manages her finances (they hold separate accounts), while my husband holds POA for H&W for his mother. My husband and I live abroad. He is the only surviving child of my MIL from her first marriage. My step-FIL has a daughter from his first marriage who lives near them both. Each child stands to inherit the estate of their respective parent.
My question concerns council tax. In a recent telephone conversation with my step-FIL, he told my husband that, since “money was a bit tight” for him at the moment, he intended to split the council tax payment between his own and my MIL’s account from now on. On reflection, we are not sure that he is entitled to do this.
Maybe it seems a bit mean to protest, since the sum involved would not equate to much more that a week’s care home fees for my MIL over the course of a year, but we fear that it may trigger the start of more payments of this kind coming out of my MIL’s account. My step-FIL is in his late 80s and in poor physical health, and we know from what he has told us that his daughter and her family are not wealthy and are putting pressure on him to sell the property he and my MIL own jointly (and in which he currently still lives with the help of 3 care agency visits a day). We suspect that his daughter and her family have put the suggestion of splitting the council tax payment into his mind. We know that he still has investments which produce a regular monthly income, as well as a pension. My MIL gave up her late husband’s pension when she remarried.
Are we right – and within our rights – to point out to him that he should pay the council tax out of his own pocket? Or should we just let the matter drop?
Our background is as follows:
My MIL was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s some years ago and has been in permanent care for over a year. She is self-funding. Her husband (step-FIL) still lives in the house they own jointly, not far from her care home in northern England. Both have their own savings and investments in addition to the property. My step-FIL holds financial POA for his wife, so now manages her finances (they hold separate accounts), while my husband holds POA for H&W for his mother. My husband and I live abroad. He is the only surviving child of my MIL from her first marriage. My step-FIL has a daughter from his first marriage who lives near them both. Each child stands to inherit the estate of their respective parent.
My question concerns council tax. In a recent telephone conversation with my step-FIL, he told my husband that, since “money was a bit tight” for him at the moment, he intended to split the council tax payment between his own and my MIL’s account from now on. On reflection, we are not sure that he is entitled to do this.
Maybe it seems a bit mean to protest, since the sum involved would not equate to much more that a week’s care home fees for my MIL over the course of a year, but we fear that it may trigger the start of more payments of this kind coming out of my MIL’s account. My step-FIL is in his late 80s and in poor physical health, and we know from what he has told us that his daughter and her family are not wealthy and are putting pressure on him to sell the property he and my MIL own jointly (and in which he currently still lives with the help of 3 care agency visits a day). We suspect that his daughter and her family have put the suggestion of splitting the council tax payment into his mind. We know that he still has investments which produce a regular monthly income, as well as a pension. My MIL gave up her late husband’s pension when she remarried.
Are we right – and within our rights – to point out to him that he should pay the council tax out of his own pocket? Or should we just let the matter drop?
