I told the Local Authority that my parents gave a certain amount in gifts every year and they accepted that amount without needing to see proof. I could have shown them that the same amount of cash had been taken out for years for Christmas and birthdays.
I think as long as you are able to show that this is a normal pattern of spending then it's not going to be a problem (within the guidelines of course)
Really? I'm stunned by that Soobee. That's very generous and I doubt all LAs are so.
I'm presuming the LA were contributing towards your parents' NH fees.
The only thing that my LA would accept as a deduction from Dave's capital, apart from the prepaid funeral, were essential repairs to the house and not even upkeep, e.g I was able to deduct for the insertion of 4 new glass panes for blown windows but that was all.
I gave Dave's share of gifts for the family from his weekly allowance which I put into a BS account.
As you may know, they deducted over £5,000 from his £23, 250 because I had been using the joint account, which true, mainly consisted of Dave's income, for paying utility bills when he was self-funding and before the LA were involved - even though the OPG were more than happy for me to carry on doing so once he was in the NH.
Should never have moved further south!!!