Local Authority funding assessment query

[Marbella79]

Hello to all - would appreciate some thoughts and wisdom - my mother is in a care home, at the moment we are paying privately. She went in to care August 2013.

She and my father have always had joint finances. After she went in to care their joint finances continued as were for a while. Then we took advice which informed us that we should clearly 'split' their finances and all joint accounts in order (when the time came) to be able to show her own finances clearly as approaching the 23,500 threshold. We have spent many months unpicking it all and setting her up her own bank account etc,to be able to show that along the way we have allocated her 50% of finances that were previously joint.

The question relates to care home fees since August 2013. For just over a year these were coming out of my parents' joint bank account. At the point we 'split' my mother off to have her own bank account, she started paying her own care home fees from there. QUESTION - does she effectively owe my father for the '50%' of her fees that came out of the joint account up until their finances were split? Should she effectively write him a cheque for what she owes him in relation to the 50% he covered from the joint account? Is that how the LA view things? We are able to show the LA all invoices and the bank statements etc so the trail is not the problem. The question is whether it is valid in the LA's eyes for her to 'retrospectively' pay him back?

Finding the financial situation complicated and depressing! Thanks for any input.
Best wishes and courage to all.

 

[2jays]

Hmmmm that's made me think.....

My thoughts.... Not necessarily correct.....

I think I would look at the finances/savings before mum went into care...
And see how much was spent out of savings... By....

On paper savings split 50/50

do not include dads money only savings and mums cash (pension attendance allowance etc) see how much mum would have paid if it was split "Pay" the care home fees on paper from her money and any money dad paid out towards care home fees I would refund dad

Apart from the fact I'm not sure I have written my thoughts clearly....... whether that's the correct way to do it I have no idea....




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[2jays]

Just bumping this to see if anyone else has any ideas


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[aquarius58]

My understanding is that couple should not be jointly assessed. Your mother is responsible for her own care and should be assessed separately and should pay for her own care.

I would think that it would be reasonable for her to pay your father back for the money he has spent on her care.

 

[Saffie]

My understanding is that couple should not be jointly assessed. Your mother is responsible for her own care and should be assessed separately and should pay for her own care.

I would think that it would be reasonable for her to pay your father back for the money he has spent on her care.

I:m not sure the LA would see it that way but the simplest thing would be to ask them for a financial assessment if, by repaying this money, your mother's capital is brought near the upper LA level. Then you will at least know where you stand.

The financial assessor will want to see all documentation related to your mother's assets including bank statements for the past year or so and will query anything untoward. So if you will reach this position within the next 12 months, it might set your mind at rest one way or another.

 

[jenniferpa]

I think I agree with Saffie in that I'm not at all sure the LA would see it that way, and that's why the recommendation is made to split finances as soon as possible. In fact, I'm reasonably sure that one or two people have posted in the past that the LA refused to accept that payments made when accounts were shared could be prorated subsequently. But that was those LAs. So I agree (also with Saffie) that it might be a good idea to have a financially assessment now rather than later so that at least you would know where you stand.

 

[aquarius58]

I'm in shock. I didn't realise the LA had so much power

 

[Saffie]

I'm in shock. I didn't realise the LA had so much power

The LA have much power where funding care is involved. Funding comes from the public's payments of council tax so they have a duty to spend it appropriately.
They do, of course, have to abide but the CRAG rules.

 

[Marbella79]

LA assessment rules

Thanks to all for your thoughts. Which leads to another question....
Say we call the LA in sooner rather than later and they deem my mother not at the threshold (not due to intentional deprivation in our part but simply because along the way splitting the joint assets has been complicated and it's very hard to know exactly how they see the 'rules'.

If they say no and you call them in again within say 12 months will they do a second assessment? If they thought first time that the case was not valid for funding or complex, does it bias a new assessment?

 

[Saffie]

There will be no bias. The LA will deal with the financial situation as it is.
It is advisable to contact them before the upper level is reached as it takes some time to get the LA funding organised.

Yes, if the financial assessment shows that the upper level won't be reached for some time, they will redo it later but you will have an idea where you stand.