Does deprivation of assets rule still apply once a persons savings drop below 23250 threshold?

Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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In short once a loved one has had a financial assessment and their savings are in the 14250 to 23250 bracket are they able to gift any money to their family or spend it as they choose? My mother was self funding for some time and had wanted to help with my daughters education as she had with my brothers children in days gone by but unfortunately due to the asset deprivation rule was unable to do so.

Although her ability to help is now limited when compared to her former funds she still wants to help where she can. Bringing her funds down to the lower 14250 threshold would also make financial sense since she is currently paying the ridiculously calculated and antiquated “Tariff income “ of nearly £1900 a year to the council. From month 1 the gift will actually start to repay itself as my mum will have an extra £150 pm disposable income.
 

Shedrech

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Dec 15, 2012
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hi @Brizzle
your mum's money must be spent in her best financial interest ie on her care and to buy items for her
this may not be exactly how she chose to spend it in days gone by
small gifts to family members on birthdays, maybe ... personally, I stopped taking anything from my dad
giving large gifts simply to reach the lower threshold may well be seen as deliberate deprivation, and as an Attorney not acting responsibly
 

Jaded'n'faded

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Jan 23, 2019
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In short, no you can't do that - it would definitely be deprivation of assets.

My mother had always given money for birthdays, Christmas, etc, and was generous to my children. But after a fall, she forgot them completely. It didn't seem right to continue with the gifts after that, even though she had enough to remain self-funding. My children understood - things had changed with their grandma.

I appreciate it seems unfair that your brother's children got some financial help and your daughter won't but unfortunately it would be breaking all the rules to gift money now.

To quote my late mother, 'No one ever said life is fair.'
 

Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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Thank you for your reply @Shedrech . Everything that I do as an attorney is and has been done with what is in the best interests for my mother . Mum will never be left without a roof over her head or without additional funding for her care needs you can be assured of that. Despite mum getting some help with council funding I have been required to top up my mother’s care plan by providing 12 hours of additional care cover per week since I do not have anywhere near the disposable income to pay the approx extra costs of £250 pw. In addition to that I am solely responsible for covering everything from prescriptions, daily and weekly shopping ,gardening and maintenance and just about everything in between. If I did not spend hours on maintaining my mum’s huge garden every month that in itself would also add another £100 pm to her monthly bill.

I have no work and there is no possibility of me finding work due to the imposed council hours and other daily commitments in regard to mum’s house and wellbeing. I have no choice but to cover at the councils request due to cost, the alternative would be for the council to throw mum into the cheapest local carehome which I know in her present condition would destroy her. I am so glad that as a family we did not take that route particularly with regard to covid and all the heart breaking news stories that have emerged from within our care homes.
Mum is receiving the upper amount of attendance allowance which is supposed to help towards extra care needs but even this is only a drop in the ocean when compared to what extra care payments would be required if I had not sacrificed my right to work and cover mum’s extra needs.

I understand attendance allowance can be used in anyway a receiver see’s fit so I guess this amount could be given to me for the situation that I have been forced to accept in order to make mum’s life and staying in her own home financially possible?

In essence what I am trying to say is that by helping me to help her mum’s money is being spent in her best financial interest. If I decide to tell the council “I’m off I need work” where is the extra £1200 pm going to come from to keep mum at home? She already has well over half of her monthly income taken for care costs but reducing mum’s savings to rainy day money of £14250 will have the added plus of giving her almost £2000 per year more disposable income for her care needs and general everyday expenses.

Regarding my direct question is your answer definitive, I have seen plenty of information regarding asset deprivation before the council do a financial assessment but none at all about what a person is allowed to do with their money once they go below the upper threshold. The only thing I would add is that my mother still has enough presence of mind to know what she is saying when it comes to helping her family out and as a responsible son who has cared for his mother for years ,many as her only carer, I would never leave her short of anything she needs, she will always be provided for in every way .
 
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Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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@Jaded'n'faded
I am sorry to hear about your mother but I am a little surprised that you withheld all future birthday and Christmas presents since in the vast majority of cases most grand parents would want you to continue theses gifts to their grandchildren if something unexpected happened to ones mind. I know I would should my daughter ever bless me with grandchildren.

I’m really not trying to be critical in anyway since I understand every families situation will be different , just speaking personally about want I would want if I am ever unfortunate enough to be in that situation.
 

Shedrech

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Dec 15, 2012
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I understood from your previous posts that you have full time live-in care for your mum, funded by the LA
and you choose to cover the necessary breaks of those carers
an LA can look into the finances of someone receiving funding at any point and will reassess when eg the £14250 threshold is reached, the person moves into residential care .... so can consider deprivation of assests at any point
you might also consider that an Attorney, and their family, should not benefit from being an Attorney, and that would appear to be the case if you gift your mum's money to your child
I'm not sure why it is necessary to gift away her money to increase her income ie her benefits/funding, won't she have to then increase her payment to the LA

many of us have given up work to care for a parent/partner and faced financial hardship .... as you have full time carers, maybe it's worth you considering returning to work, not just for an income through salary, to help yourself and family now, but to build up NI and pension contributions to cover your income in retirement (something that has hit me since I down scaled my job, went part-time then gave up work to care for my dad)
 

AwayWithTheFairies

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Apr 21, 2021
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@Brizzle im sorry but this isn’t coming across very well , I appreciate you are angry with the situation and I would feel the same, but just to give you feed back on the optics

Some might see this:

You have made enormous financial and career sacrifices to keep your mum in the care standard you and she currently desire.

Now you want payback for your own or your child’s benefit, not hers, from her dwindling savings that she needs to spend now to live. Only people with barely any savings are entitled to have the taxpayer pick up the tab for their care.

It doesn’t really matter what you want done with her money, except that it’s not for her own care, but as it happens you want it paid in the form of help with your child’s expenses, like your sibling got in better days.

The other issue i wonder about is, depending of course on what training or course your child wants, the child may be able to get student loans. My own daughter in uni has lived within her loans for fees and maintenance with only us paying her phone bill and a few top ups of shopping from us as a treat. My late father put money in an account for them, before the loans came into being, but she hasn’t needed to dip into it yet.
 

Cat27

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Feb 27, 2015
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Merseyside
@Jaded'n'faded
I am sorry to hear about your mother but I am a little surprised that you withheld all future birthday and Christmas presents since in the vast majority of cases most grand parents would want you to continue theses gifts to their grandchildren if something unexpected happened to ones mind. I know I would should my daughter ever bless me with grandchildren.

I’m really not trying to be critical in anyway since I understand every families situation will be different , just speaking personally about want I would want if I am ever unfortunate enough to be in that situation.
Unfortunately, what she would have wanted is now not in her best interests & as the attorney you have to do what is best for her now.
 

Jaded'n'faded

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Jan 23, 2019
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Unfortunately, what she would have wanted is now not in her best interests & as the attorney you have to do what is best for her now.
@Jaded'n'faded
I am sorry to hear about your mother but I am a little surprised that you withheld all future birthday and Christmas presents since in the vast majority of cases most grand parents would want you to continue theses gifts to their grandchildren if something unexpected happened to ones mind. I know I would should my daughter ever bless me with grandchildren.

I’m really not trying to be critical in anyway since I understand every families situation will be different , just speaking personally about want I would want if I am ever unfortunate enough to be in that situation.
Yes, that's the point - things change. My children were both over 18 when this happened - I might have done things differently had they been little kids. But if I'd continued with the gifts it would have been like me giving them money, not their gran who was no longer capable. They understood that. I could certainly have continued with those small gifts without it being deprivation of assets though, not that it mattered in mum's case.

Everyone is different and our family have always been very matter of fact about death and dying, especially my mum! I saw no need to 'pretend' granny was remembering my kids' birthdays when they knew she didn't have a clue who they were. I also cancelled various charitable contributions she made before dementia.

If there's any money left 'afterwards', and it comes your way, perhaps you could give some to your daughter then.
 

Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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I understood from your previous posts that you have full time live-in care for your mum, funded by the LA
and you choose to cover the necessary breaks of those carers
an LA can look into the finances of someone receiving funding at any point and will reassess when eg the £14250 threshold is reached, the person moves into residential care .... so can consider deprivation of assests at any point
you might also consider that an Attorney, and their family, should not benefit from being an Attorney, and that would appear to be the case if you gift your mum's money to your child
I'm not sure why it is necessary to gift away her money to increase her income ie her benefits/funding, won't she have to then increase her payment to the LA

many of us have given up work to care for a parent/partner and faced financial hardship .... as you have full time carers, maybe it's worth you considering returning to work, not just for an income through salary, to help yourself and family now, but to build up NI and pension contributions to cover your income in retirement (something that has hit me since I down scaled my job, went part-time then gave up work to care for my dad)
Mum has full time care minus some carer breaks (which I cover ) to which she contributes approx 30% of the cost. Prior to this she was self funding . It is not a case that I choose to cover the carer breaks but more a case that I have no choice unless I am prepared to send mum to a low cost care home that my mother passionately does not want and whom the social services also agreed was not in her best interests. Mum’s remaining savings below 23250 but above 14250 currently mean she has to contribute an extra £144 every four weeks towards her care . The charge known as “tariff income” is based on a ludicrously outdated calculation of what savings are worth as income to a person. I’m guessing it was created when interest rates were sky high as opposed to virtually zero. The maximum amount between the upper and lower threshold figure of £9000 wouldn’t get near to earning £144 per year let alone every 4 weeks. Once your savings reach 14250 this unfair tariff income is totally dropped..that’s it..nothing more nothing less.

To suggest that I would be “benefiting “ in receiving a relatively small amount each year to help towards my daughters education over the next 3 years that my mother has said she wants to help with is beyond a joke. People seem to be content at looking at a very narrow picture, not much thinking outside the box or associated sympathy on here I’m afraid. I am a single dad trying to raise a child with school runs in between the hours spent at mum’s and my monthly income is extremely low due to being out of work. By taking on the cover that the council will not pay for I am putting myself under additional financial hardship since getting a full time job is not possible . To all effect I am being taken off the regular job market as we know it. So to be clear however anybody what’s to dress it up if you look at the bigger picture I am not “financially benefiting” from any help my mum is offering . In fact quite the opposite I am far worse off financially than I otherwise would have been but for the council forcing me into a situation I could not refuse for the sake and mental wellbeing of my mum.As is often the case with everything council & social services related I am finding myself between a rock and a hard place in a classic catch 22 situation.

Even though I am an older dad whose previous skills are no longer relevant in today’s working climate I would love to get back out there and get a regular 9-5 35 hour working week job even if on a lower wage than I have earned in the past .The trouble is I take the work and the council will say , “ the computer says no” , unless you can provide the additional funding required for your mum we will have no choice but to send her to a care home due to budget constraints.

State pension is not a concern of mine since I have covered more than 35 years (plus some) and will get a full pension due to existing contributions at retirement age.

Nobody has addressed the attendance allowance question yet. I understand from previous posts on this forum that this can be used in anyway a recipient chooses is in the primary interests of what’s best for their ongoing care and in my mum’s case what better way to use it than to help a Social Services oppressed and embattled son with no logical way out to continue to help support her and thus avoid being summarily sent to a care home with no say in the matter?


The bottom line is as family I will do what ever is needed to support my mum and if by her helping me a little results in her staying in her own home as opposed to being sent to a care home then that is what will happen. My mum will always be cared for whatever and will want for nothing so at the end of the day the desired result of keeping mum at home for the time being at least will be achieved. If it turns out I broke any post threshold financial assessment rules, and nobody has absolutely or definitively convinced me yet that that would be the case (lots of mights and maybes) then I will just have to pay back the money to mum at a later date.

Anybody with any thoughts on the attendance allowance question please ?

Many thanks.
 
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Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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Yes, that's the point - things change. My children were both over 18 when this happened - I might have done things differently had they been little kids. But if I'd continued with the gifts it would have been like me giving them money, not their gran who was no longer capable. They understood that. I could certainly have continued with those small gifts without it being deprivation of assets though, not that it mattered in mum's case.

Everyone is different and our family have always been very matter of fact about death and dying, especially my mum! I saw no need to 'pretend' granny was remembering my kids' birthdays when they knew she didn't have a clue who they were. I also cancelled various charitable contributions she made before dementia.

If there's any money left 'afterwards', and it comes your way, perhaps you could give some to your daughter then.
I think we are looking at this from different perspectives where nobody is wrong, I have already had the following conversation with my daughter along these lines, “ Sweetheart if your Dad ever ends up getting as sick as your poor Grandmother and starts to forget things and eventually who you are then always remember to buy presents on birthdays and at Christmas time on my behalf for any future Grandchildren you might have blessed me with and tell them that it’s what I told you I always wanted to happen when I was feeling well”. That for me at least would be very important.

When somebody has lost their mind totally and no longer remember you or family I see this as a form of bereavement even though somebody is still breathing. It’s important to let loved ones know what you would like to happen if you are not of capable mind. It’s basically a form of a small pre will before your final will is executed at your death.
 

Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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Unfortunately, what she would have wanted is now not in her best interests & as the attorney you have to do what is best for her now.
Why is it not in her best interests? She is not going to run out of money and will always be cared for. If you are just talking about relatively small birthday presents or Christmas gifts what difference does having dementia make providing she is still of sound enough mind to want to give a present? There is absolutely nothing that states a person with dementia is not allowed to give gifts or presents at these times should they wish to do so.

Regarding the main theme of this thread and complications in regard to both my mother’s and personal predicament you can be assured as attorney I will always do what is in my mother’s best interests. To follow the advice of some on here and just go get a job would most assuredly not be in her best interests since it would in all likelihood end up in her being locked up in a care home. People do not seem to be taking on board the whole situation and what will happen to both my mum and myself if a compromise is not reached that makes sense for both of us which by the way will NOT be detrimental and only positive for both of us.
 

northumbrian_k

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Mar 2, 2017
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I am not sure that I follow all of this @Brizzle but my understanding is that any gifts ought not to be different in scale to what might have been customary in the past. In that sense I think the question of being above the threshold or below it is not relevant. "Bringing her funds down to the lower 14250 threshold" by making larger gifts (I am guessing here but helping with education implies larger sums) seems to imply shifting the burden of costs from the individual to the local authority. That surely is a very good description of deliberate deprivation of assets. I don't support the way in which the current system works but we do need to work within its rules. My wife has to make a contribution to her care, having moved from being fully self-funding to part-funding as her assets have fallen below the threshold. As her Attorney I am not seeking to eliminate her contribution by gifting away the difference between the upper and lower thresholds. That would just be plain wrong.
 

Jaded'n'faded

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Jan 23, 2019
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Does your mum own her house? If so and she were to move into a care home, the house would have to be sold and she would become self-funding again.
 

Banjomansmate

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Jan 13, 2019
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I always did my best to keep The Banjoman’s savings to just under the £14,000 threshold, as much as anything because once it went over it meant a ludicrous amount of hassle informing the LA and DWP just for a few quid. The LA would ask him to pay more then it would end up below £14,000 again and we would end up back where we started. When it was his daughters’ Birthdays and at Christmas I always asked him if he wanted me to send them some money and sent what I considered to be a reasonable but not ‘over the top’ amount. I never did anything for myself. When one daughter bought a property, with his consent I sent her a larger amount to help with insurance cover and the same amount for her sister’s driving lessons. I knew this was what he would have done when he was logical so that was why I suggested it and carried it out.
As far as I could see, he wasn’t allowed to top up any residential care fees with his own money once his savings dipped below £14,000 (not that he needed to) so that meant he could do what he wanted with his own money and I just carried out what I was sure he would have done if he had been able to make that decision by himself. I always explained/asked him first though.
 

Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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@northumbrian_k

I understand what you are saying but the choice I am left with is not covering the hours of my mum’s additional home care needs thereby sentencing her to a basic cost care home which would destroy her at this present moment in time or sacrifice the educational needs and general welfare of my daughter. It’s not a great choice is it , which option would you choose?

Due to draconian social service and council rules this is the position people can be left in. I have not had full time employment for a number of years due to the care needs of my mum and as a result have had very little monthly income to live on. As a single dad life is not easy for me anyway and having little expendable income has of course inevitably effected my daughters quality of life compared to some of her peer group. My income is so low in fact that I receive child tax credit and free school meals for my daughter but that is the only state help other than child benefit that everyone irrespective of Income gets that I receive.

The ironic thing is that if I could get full time work I wouldn’t need any state benefits and I could resume paying taxes but I basically have a noose around my neck in that if I do that I will not be able to cover the hours required to maintain my mum’s care at home and the council will almost certainly send her into a low cost and correspondingly low quality care home.

It’s a vent really due to pure frustration. I have not taken a penny off of mum and watched her life savings reduce by £50000 in little under a year on top of what she had previously spent on part time care. The only thing I regret is that I foolishly continued to cover the carers breaks to actually save mum money when in fact the only people I was saving thousands of pounds were the council. I merely delayed actually having to call for council help earlier but you do not always think logically or rationally when you are trying to save a loved one money under such circumstances.

Not to worry since my original post I am beginning to finally to think logically and have decided on a course of action that will be both lawful and makes financial common sense for all concerned.

Recently my mum’s roof has had some quite major problems and after a number of quotes we were advised that a repair would cost in excess of £4000. The insurance emergency repair people who had nothing to gain from their advice as well as more than one roofer advised however that the general condition of the roof was such that a complete new roof was probably the best option due to the costs of the repairs needed and the likelihood of more costly problems in the near term. A reroof will be about double the cost of a large repair job but for peace of mind makes financial sense and hopefully will avoid future disruption for the remaining time mum is in her property. Given that this will bring mum’s savings down to the lower threshold and will also allow her an extra £200 per month to live on it is the common sense thing to do. All of this is above board and of course I will invite the council around to survey the work and provide them with the invoice and receipt for the work if required.

With mum’s savings down to 14250 which the council have no power over and an additional £200 to live on every month things going forward for both myself and my mum with careful planning in place will be looking a little more rosy. We will make things work out without the councils interference and my mum can continue to receive care in her own home for as long is viable.
 
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Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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Does your mum own her house? If so and she were to move into a care home, the house would have to be sold and she would become self-funding again.
Yes she does and if and when that time comes which is essentially when the home carers say that they cannot care for her anymore or require two people to care for her then mum will have to regretfully go to a care home. At that point however that will probably be best place for mum but we are not at that stage right now.

I am also aware about the self funding implications and of course that is not a problem. As I understand it the house would not have to be immediately sold in all cases but once a loved one is deceased you would be required to pay back any outstanding amounts owed on the sell of the house or by other method. The ideal plan going forward would be to rent mum’s property and that income together with her total income from other sources would cover for most part the monthly cost.
 

Brizzle

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Mar 1, 2019
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I always did my best to keep The Banjoman’s savings to just under the £14,000 threshold, as much as anything because once it went over it meant a ludicrous amount of hassle informing the LA and DWP just for a few quid. The LA would ask him to pay more then it would end up below £14,000 again and we would end up back where we started. When it was his daughters’ Birthdays and at Christmas I always asked him if he wanted me to send them some money and sent what I considered to be a reasonable but not ‘over the top’ amount. I never did anything for myself. When one daughter bought a property, with his consent I sent her a larger amount to help with insurance cover and the same amount for her sister’s driving lessons. I knew this was what he would have done when he was logical so that was why I suggested it and carried it out.
As far as I could see, he wasn’t allowed to top up any residential care fees with his own money once his savings dipped below £14,000 (not that he needed to) so that meant he could do what he wanted with his own money and I just carried out what I was sure he would have done if he had been able to make that decision by himself. I always explained/asked him first though.
I commend you. It sounds to me you did exactly what Banjoman would have wanted. I am fully aware of what my mum would have wanted and in fact is still telling me she wants. Despite her deteriorating condition my mum is aware of the sacrifices I have made regarding my family over the last few years in order to care for her but even if I had not had to care for her that would not have changed anything. I’m going to make sure mum stays at home while she still wants to and always ensure she wants for nothing either at home or in a future care home.

Now mum will soon be under the £14000 threshold we as a family can run our financial lives how we choose to and it will not be the councils or anyone else’s business. It will feel in many ways that the social care noose around our necks has finally been removed...freedom to run our own lives once again in a sensible, positive and productive manner without the draconian social service rules that add stress and impact and complicate almost every decision one has to make in regard to complicated family life. Mum’s quality of care and life will however always be at the forefront of all financial decisions.
 
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clarice2

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Mar 13, 2016
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Mum has full time care minus some carer breaks (which I cover ) to which she contributes approx 30% of the cost. Prior to this she was self funding . It is not a case that I choose to cover the carer breaks but more a case that I have no choice unless I am prepared to send mum to a low cost care home that my mother passionately does not want and whom the social services also agreed was not in her best interests. Mum’s remaining savings below 23250 but above 14250 currently mean she has to contribute an extra £144 every four weeks towards her care . The charge known as “tariff income” is based on a ludicrously outdated calculation of what savings are worth as income to a person. I’m guessing it was created when interest rates were sky high as opposed to virtually zero. The maximum amount between the upper and lower threshold figure of £9000 wouldn’t get near to earning £144 per year let alone every 4 weeks. Once your savings reach 14250 this unfair tariff income is totally dropped..that’s it..nothing more nothing less.

To suggest that I would be “benefiting “ in receiving a relatively small amount each year to help towards my daughters education over the next 3 years that my mother has said she wants to help with is beyond a joke. People seem to be content at looking at a very narrow picture, not much thinking outside the box or associated sympathy on here I’m afraid. I am a single dad trying to raise a child with school runs in between the hours spent at mum’s and my monthly income is extremely low due to being out of work. By taking on the cover that the council will not pay for I am putting myself under additional financial hardship since getting a full time job is not possible . To all effect I am being taken off the regular job market as we know it. So to be clear however anybody what’s to dress it up if you look at the bigger picture I am not “financially benefiting” from any help my mum is offering . In fact quite the opposite I am far worse off financially than I otherwise would have been but for the council forcing me into a situation I could not refuse for the sake and mental wellbeing of my mum.As is often the case with everything council & social services related I am finding myself between a rock and a hard place in a classic catch 22 situation.

Even though I am an older dad whose previous skills are no longer relevant in today’s working climate I would love to get back out there and get a regular 9-5 35 hour working week job even if on a lower wage than I have earned in the past .The trouble is I take the work and the council will say , “ the computer says no” , unless you can provide the additional funding required for your mum we will have no choice but to send her to a care home due to budget constraints.

State pension is not a concern of mine since I have covered more than 35 years (plus some) and will get a full pension due to existing contributions at retirement age.

Nobody has addressed the attendance allowance question yet. I understand from previous posts on this forum that this can be used in anyway a recipient chooses is in the primary interests of what’s best for their ongoing care and in my mum’s case what better way to use it than to help a Social Services oppressed and embattled son with no logical way out to continue to help support her and thus avoid being summarily sent to a care home with no say in the matter?


The bottom line is as family I will do what ever is needed to support my mum and if by her helping me a little results in her staying in her own home as opposed to being sent to a care home then that is what will happen. My mum will always be cared for whatever and will want for nothing so at the end of the day the desired result of keeping mum at home for the time being at least will be achieved. If it turns out I broke any post threshold financial assessment rules, and nobody has absolutely or definitively convinced me yet that that would be the case (lots of mights and maybes) then I will just have to pay back the money to mum at a later date.

Anybody with any thoughts on the attendance allowance question please ?

Many thanks.
Ring the number on any letter from the attendance allowance department and ask. I did this and was told that no receipts or records are asked for and it is paid because it has been decided they need help with care, not necessarily to pay for it. My husband was nursed at home. He had CHC so still received Attendance allowance. They said it could be used for anything. It could be for days out or he could give it to the cats and dogs home if he decided to. Ring and ask them.
 

Lynmax

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Nov 1, 2016
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My understanding is that Attendance Allowance can be used for anything and that no one asks what it is spent on. It would make sense for you to receive the amount as you are caring for your mum part of the time.

I agree that a new roof would be a good thing to sort out, it will add value to the house when sold and keep your mum warm and dry while she is living there.

Have you considered purchasing a funeral plan for your mum, I’ve read on here that one is considered an appropriate use of funds?

regarding gifts for your daughter, the OPG guidelines states that gifts can continue to be given as long as they are in line with what your mum used to give. In our family, we have stopped giving money gifts on mums behalf to my adult children or to ourselves (Mum used to give everyone £100 every birthday and Christmas) but we still give them to my niece and nephew as they are much younger. I also give gifts for special occasions such as passing exams as I could prove that mum used to do that for my children by looking at her old bank statements. Mum gave my eldest son £5000 when he got married and would have done the same for all her grandchildren but I doubt that we will continue the tradition - that might be deemed excessive although is highly unlikely that mum will ever get financial help so I don’t know who will be interested in how her money is spent!

With the income from renting out her house and her pensions, Mums investments, ISAS and savings will last her for approx 15 years before we need to sell the house - and she is 89 years old! So we’re going to continue as we are re spending her money without worrying - we three attorneys do not directly benefit in any way.