My dad has dementia

[bazzer5707]

Hi thanks for letting me join your group. I am after advice and don't know who to turn to. I myself am disabled pensioner and looking after my dad who has dementia. He owns his house outright and I have given up everything to move in and look after him. If he was to go into a care eventually, I know I am allowed to stay in the house as have been here with him for 4 years now and his house won't be considered in finance. My question is he has left the house to me in his will so what would happen when he died. Would the council make me sell the house off to pay his care home bill or would the house just be transfered to me as left in his will.
I don't know who to speak to get advice

 

[DeeCee7]

Hello @bazzer5707 I am glad you joined us, as you will find lots of advice and friendship on here.
I found the following on this website:

When a house won't be taken into account​

There are some situations where your home will not be taken into account, even when paying for care home costs. This is when one of the following people also lives in the property, and will continue to live there after the person has moved into a care home:

• a husband, wife, civil partner or partner
• a close relative over the age of 60
• a dependent child
• a relative who is disabled or incapacitated

It looks like you qualify on 2 counts. I am sure someone else will come along with more experience to guide you, about your question re the will,or ring the helpline for a chat. My opinion is that it’s not your debt to settle. Take care, you are doing a grand job looking after your dad, with all your additional difficulties.

 

[northumbrian_k]

Hi @bazzer5707 and welcome to Dementia Support Forum. My understanding is that if the house is disregarded during the financial assessment then it cannot later be ruled back in after a person has died in order to take fees retrospectively.

However to be sure about this you could speak to the finance department at the local council. There will be a finance officer who deals specifically with financial assessments and should be able to confirm this. There may also be some guidance on the council website.

The following account of my experience is slightly different to your situation but is in effect dealing with the same point ie can care home fees be reclaimed retrospectively against a property that has been disregarded? My answer is no.

My experience was that my Mam was in a care home with dementia. She was not a self-funder but made a contribution to care costs from her pension, with the major part paid by the Local Authority. My Dad continued to live in their jointly owned home (I can't recall what type of tenancy but that was not material in the circumstances). My Mam died first and the house passed to my Dad. At that point the Local Authority had no recourse to reclaim care home fees because the house had already been disregarded (and my Dad still lived in it).

After he died it was then passed to my sister and I as part of his estate. It was sold more than a year later. Again, the Local Authority had no claim on the proceeds from sale of the house for the reason explained above. In inheriting the house my sister and I did not at the same time inherit liability for previously paid care home costs.