Mum needs a care home but selling house will leave my brother homeless

[liloo75]

Hi
Hoping someone can offer some experience on care home funding.
My Mum lives in South Gloucestershire with my brother, who has lived with Mum his entire life and has been her official carer for at least the last five years.
She's been diagnosed with vascular dementia on top of numerous long-term complex health issues, he's been finding her care difficult for a while but a few weeks ago she had to be taken into hospital due to a medical emergency and is now in a nursing home under a 28 day assessment.
We met a social worker this week who says she now needs 24hr care in a nursing home and she will need to sell her house within 12 weeks to fund her care.
This house is my brothers home. He's not worked for years because he's been her full time carer, and he has no other family in the area. Selling the house will make him homeless. We don't have power of attorney making things even more complicated.

Can they do they force this? Do he have to lose his home to pay for her care? That feels like a real kick in the teeth having given up so much of his life to look after her.

He's neurodivergent and is understandably not coping with things very well right now and I'm trying to micro manage things as best I can from a distance.

Any advice/experience would be welcome.

 

[Kevinl]

Hello and welcome, the social worker is talking , thinks, probably a word not allowed on here so shall we just say "wrong" others may comment about the rules but agree to nothing and sign nothing too. K

 

[SAP]

Firstly , how old is your brother and secondly is he considered disabled in any way? Either one of these factors could make a difference. The following link may be helpful.

Do I have to sell my home to pay for care? | Age UK

We explain the means test and property and when you have to sell your home to pay for care. Find out more information from Age UK. Read now.

www.ageuk.org.uk

I suggest that you contact the CAB about his situation so that he gets timely support.

 

[liloo75]

Hello and welcome, the social worker is talking , thinks, probably a word not allowed on here so shall we just say "wrong" others may comment about the rules but agree to nothing and sign nothing too. K

Hi and thank you.
I find that local authorities are often a bit bendy with people's rights, but I don't know enough about social care law to stand my ground! I'm not agreeing to anything until I've worked out what the actual rules are rather than their interpretation of the rules. I have two children in special needs education, I have lots of experience in arguing with local authorities when I have to.

 

[Kevinl]

Good for you. K

 

[DeeCee7]

Hello @liloo75 I am sorry to read of your family problems. Please reassure your brother, he has been doing a grand job looking after your Mum, and he should be able to stay in the family home.
If the care home is permanent, it won't be counted if it's still occupied by:

• your partner or former partner, unless they are estranged from you
• your estranged or divorced partner IF they are also a lone parent
• a relative who is aged 60 or over
• a relative who is disabled
• a child of yours aged under 18

Your brother may qualify under the disability if he is neurodivergent, as neurodiversity could qualify as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.
Or if he is 60 or over.
Good luck! I see you are up for the challenge !

 

[canary]

SWs are not always very au faux with the financial rules. There is a different department for that and they know the rules inside out and back to front.

If your brother is either 60 yrs old or registered disabled (does he get DLA/PIP?) then the house is a mandatory disregard - ie it will not be taken into account when your mums finances are assessed.

Even if neither of these apply to your brother, he can still apply for discretionary disregard. As the name implies, the disregard is at the discretion of the LA. It is getting harder to obtain as the LAs are so strapped for cash, but in your brothers case I think he would stand a very good chance.