Money Worries for Mum

[Heather12]

Hi everyone. My father has gone into a nursing home full-time. My mother is still at home and is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. My mum and dad own their own home and have around £5,000 savings. My dad's pensions are being taken to pay for his nursing home and my mum only has her state pension. My mum also has to pay another top-up fee of £180 per month on top of my father's pensions towards the nursing home fees. As you can imagine, my mum is concerned over how much money she is going to have left. I am currently looking into getting her rates relief for her house, but are there other ways of helping my mum with living costs etc...?
My mum really doesn't want to leave her home at the moment and is also worried that if she did sell half would then go to the nursing home. My mum and dad worked all their lives and have never received any benefits. My mum made a bad investment with a private pension many years ago and rather then a monthly sum gets around £200-£300 every July
I appreciate any helpful hints or a point in the direction of where to go to seek help. Many thanks.

 

[Izzy]

I’m sorry you’re facing these concerns. I’ve no experience of these issues but I’m sure members who do will offer their thoughts.

 

[Tin]

No experience either, but one thought comes to mind, get your mother to see Citizen's Advice. I have a friend who works for the charity and this is precisely the kind of scenario she deals with. They will seek out the benefits that your mother will be entitled to, even your father may be entitled to something more.

 

[Heather12]

Thank you so much for your responses. I will make an appointment at CAB this week.

 

[Tin]

Thank you so much for your responses. I will make an appointment at CAB this week.

Please do that, they will help your mother sort things out. Ease her worries about her home etc.

 

[karaokePete]

I don't know if it will be of any use to you, however, if you want to check out the AS Factsheet on benefits you can find it by following this link https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites/default/files/migrate/downloads/factsheet_benefits.pdf

 

[Lindy50]

CAB appointment is an excellent idea

I wonder how the £180 top up to fees is calculated? That may not be right. Also your mum may be entitled to something like Pension Credit, if she's of that age.

Do ask....I really hope your mum can be reassured that things will be okay financially. She has enough to worry about (as do you!) without money being added to the mix.

All the best

Lindy xx

 

[Duggies-girl]

Hi everyone. My father has gone into a nursing home full-time. My mother is still at home and is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. My mum and dad own their own home and have around £5,000 savings. My dad's pensions are being taken to pay for his nursing home and my mum only has her state pension. My mum also has to pay another top-up fee of £180 per month on top of my father's pensions towards the nursing home fees. As you can imagine, my mum is concerned over how much money she is going to have left. I am currently looking into getting her rates relief for her house, but are there other ways of helping my mum with living costs etc...?
My mum really doesn't want to leave her home at the moment and is also worried that if she did sell half would then go to the nursing home. My mum and dad worked all their lives and have never received any benefits. My mum made a bad investment with a private pension many years ago and rather then a monthly sum gets around £200-£300 every July
I appreciate any helpful hints or a point in the direction of where to go to seek help. Many thanks.

@Heather12 I am sure that as long as your mum is over 60 then she retains the right to live in her own home until she dies. She does not need this worry at the moment as she is unwell herself. You may wish to have a chat with someone at the CAB to be absolutely sure but I am almost positive that your mum does not need to sell her home. Hopefully someone else may confirm this on here for you.

My dad also has cancer but he is on palliative care only. He is terminal and because of this his gastro nurse filled out a form for him called a DS 1500 that puts him straight onto the highest rate of his Disability Living Allowance and now he will get extra money each month. It is a fair sum. Dad has been granted the award until 2022 although it is doubtful that he will still be here then.

I think the DS 1500 is meant for people who are not expected to live more than six months but I have been on the Macmillan site and the six months seems to be just a rough guide as it is not always possible to predict how long somebody will live. There are people on the Macmillan forum who have been getting this payment for two or three years.

It is just a thought, the DS 1500 has to be filled in by a hospital consultant, specialist nurse or a GP and it means that the patient is then automatically awarded the highest rate of DLA or attendance allowance within a few weeks.

Of course if your mum is expected to make a full recovery and I hope that she does then this will not be any help to you. Again you could probably have a chat with the CAB or have a look around the Macmillan forums because you may find more information there.

Hopefully you will get some more replies to help you.

 

[Lindy50]

I am also pretty certain that your mum is entitled to live in her own home. What I’m not sure about, is how she can increase her income. Agree with @Duggies-girl thst DS 1500 is very good if that is or may be your mums situation.
(((Hugs)))
Lindy xx

 

[Daffy123]

If she does not have enough to live on she can probably get pension credit. Visit the CAB for advice.

 

[Kevinl]

You do say "My dad's pensions are being taken" pensions, plural, yes they can take all of his state pensions but your mum should be able to keep half of any of his private pensions so if he has pensions over and above the state pension half of it should still go to her.
As has been said pension credits might be an option, my mum got pension credits and paid no council tax as she didn't have any savings or other income.
This bit "and is also worried that if she did sell half would then go to the nursing home." is a definite no, the Statutory Guidance notes to the 2014 Care Act, Annex E do allow her to downsize but half of any equity released would be his and may be taken into consideration, but if they only have £5k in savings and the LA fund under £13k then you'd be looking at an equity release of about £20k, giving them joint savings of about £25k so under the LA limit, if downsizing made the saving £100k then he would become self funding.
As has been said you really need to see someone like the local AZ society, AGEUK or the CAB where you can have a full and frank discussion about money and get some personal advise.
There is a thing called Personal Expense Allowance (PEA) and it's normally quoted as £23 per week, but it should be set at a level to reflect a persons actual expenses and as he owns half a house and there always exists the possibility he might go back there then his PEA should reflect this, this is new unexplored territory but one I'm getting into. I maintain my wife will come home one day and the care home say this is possible and as long as that possibility exists her PEA needs to reflect the fact her home needs to be there.
Needless to say social services aren't happy with this but, they can't prove me wrong. so as long as the possibility, no matter how slight that my wife returns home they have to make sure that option is kept open to her.
It's early days but to keep the house I'll [ay for the electricity I use and the gas and the water, but half of the standing charges are hers, as is half the insurance and the maintenance.
As I say it's early days and I might end up in court one day but I hope one day I'll be able to come on here and tell people that a PEA should be set at a level to maintain someone's home in the event they are able to return because not doing that takes an option that should remain open and closes it, the opposite of what is supposed to happen.
As I say it's a work in progress.
K