I hope someone on here can help clear this point up.My husband is in care and we have had a financial assessment.I live in our home,which is in joint names.In the assessment,the LA have taken my husbands state pension,half his savings,and half mine(in joint accounts.The house has been disregarded.The question is...I am going to struggle to pay the general bills in the home I live in,and am told my husband cannot pay any bills connected to the house,and his half of the savings cannot be touched.I,however,am going to have to dig into my savings just to pay everyday bills.If the house is jointly owned,my husband owns half of it,and therefore is he not liable for half the bills? The care home is LA funded partly,the cost to my husband being around £250 a week,top ups also to be paid by myself.can this be right?
Jointly owned home.
- Thread starter Kapow
- Start date
I am told by the LA that "most homes in the borough have top up fees..." and more or less implied that the ones that don't are not very nice.This may be so I told them,and the reason most have top up fees is because the LA's budget is set too low and you want someone else to pay!They were not very happy at that,but hey ho! The only other option is to explore that other minefield that is the benefits system.
Last edited:
Really? The LA say I am entitled to half his private pension.They also say that his half of our savings cannot be touched for any reason and must be in a seperate account alongside his state pension and half his private pension and it is this that pays for his care fees,apart from the top ups?How can he wish me to have it if he doesn't have capacity?
Last edited:
Watching this thread with interest, as I am awaiting a financial assessment to put my husband into care. I understand I will be left with half his private pension, which like @Kapow will not entirely cover the monthly bills, and there is nothing I can cut down on. Luckily our home is in my name, but I also cannot afford any top up fees. It’s hurdles every time to get any information. As my OH is in a secure dementia unit for assessment I am trying to call SS to find out how much longer I will get carers allowance and AA, but can never get through to anyone.
My experience, not from my husband but my mother, is that AA is not payable from the moment the LA starts funding or part funding the Care Home and Carers Alliwance stops immediately he goes into the Home (maybe even while in hospital if there more than a week or two,) so you may have to repay them!! The AA unit we’re good though and I didn’t have to back pay them the full amount do you may be lucky. Top up fees have been a nightmare for my sister and me with my Mum, the LA refuses to pay anymore money, up to us to try and find a Home with no top up fees (impossible) , we are not allowed to use her savings to pay the top up fees, despite the fact she chose the Home, and we are not allowed to transfer money from her savings to us, to enable us to pay her top up fees!!! Luckily my sister got her state pension just at the time this was all happening and her husband agreed to her paying Mum’s top up fees until such time as she couldn’t be repaid when Mum died. This point will be reached next April after that my sister and I have agreed between us we will pay half each (I get my state pension in Dec). It’s awful though because I have to hope my Mum dies either before my husband does or before I can no longer cope and he has to go into a Home as I will not be able to manage them financially. I think it’s awful the way the Government makes out that the problem paying for care is all about having to sell the ‘family’ home, because it most certainly isn’t, st least if there is a home to eventually sell the people paying the top up fees can get their money back for the rest of us we just have to pray we are don’t need care when our turn comes!
You can use your husbands savings to pay half of any maintenance bills - fixing the roof etc - but not for general bills - electricity, water rates etc.
If you think you are going to need benefits, Id contact someone like Age UK to help.
If you think you are going to need benefits, Id contact someone like Age UK to help.
worth checking for any eligibility for benefits
benefits-calculator-2.turn2us.org.uk
maybe call the support line for their suggestions .... it can't be sustainable to pay a top-up fee and be left unable to pay necessary bills ... I thought an LA had to ensure that the spouse was left able to afford to live
www.alzheimers.org.uk
Turn2us Benefits Calculator
Use the Turn2us Benefits Calculator to find out which welfare benefits you may be entitled to.
benefits-calculator-2.turn2us.org.uk
maybe call the support line for their suggestions .... it can't be sustainable to pay a top-up fee and be left unable to pay necessary bills ... I thought an LA had to ensure that the spouse was left able to afford to live
Dementia Support Line
If you need dementia support, we’re here for you. Get personalised information, support and advice by calling us on 0333 150 3456.
www.alzheimers.org.uk
It would seem rational that the husband should pay half of any bills reating to the maintenance of the property that he half owns, so for example roof or plumbing repairs and the insurance premium. However he certainly isn't responsible for gas or electricity, council tax. telecoms, or anything that he doesn't use himself.
I don't understand why you can't use your mother's savings to pay top up fees. Certainly you should not transfer anything to yourself but keep her funds in her name and pay the care home direct. I assume you have POA? Presumably she doesn't have much in savings though, otherwise she would be self funding and the issue would not arise.
The resident has to be left with the £14,000 savings (the point at which the LA stops including savings in the assessment for resident’s payment towards fees) so that they are not left with no money at all after residential care. The Attorney is not allowed to use the donor’s money to top up their care home fees, it has to come from another source.
Top-up fees have to be paid by a third party, but no-one has to pay top-up fees. The Local Authority has to find at least one care/nursing home that will meet the PWDs needs and will accept the LA fees. If there is none, then the LA has to increase the fees.
It does, of course, mean that you will have little or no choice about where they go.
You get your carer's allowance stopped after the first month your husband is in someone else's care....his attendance allowance stops after a month too.BUT...you have to notify both of a change of circumstance,never presume other parties have informed them.I know it's a nightmare getting through to them,but persevere.I have had nothing but fighting with the authorities since June...I really hope you are treated much better than I am being.
