Power of attorney trying to keep money needed for care

filll44

New member
Aug 2, 2022
1
0
Hi,
My step dad has Alzheimer's. He's recently moved onto a home as my mum is to ill to lool after him.

His son and daughter have power of attorney over his money. They are using a small pension to pay for the care home at the moment. There are savings that they say they want to keep and not pay for the care home with it.
My mum is getting very stressed about the situation.
Are they allowed to keep his money. If not, who makes them release the money.

Many thanks in advance.

Phil
 

Sarasa

Volunteer Host
Apr 13, 2018
7,195
0
Nottinghamshire
Hi @filll44 and a warm welcome to Dementia Talking Point.
If your step father's pension covers the care home fees that is fine, if they don't your step siblings will be expected to use your step father's savings to pay for his care. Social services won't take kindly to any assets being 'hiden'.
Do your parents have separate accounts as his fess should come out of his money not you mothers.
As your mum is ill and already stressed is there anyway you can talk this over with your step siblings in a non-confrontational way. You don't want to accuse them of anything underhand, but they need to be aware your step dad's money is his, and if it needs to pay for his care so be it.
It might be an idea to phone the help line and talk to them about the issue to get a clearer idea of what they and you can do about the situation. You can phone them on 0333 150 3456 or email dementia.connect@alzheimers.org.uk
This is a very friendly and supportive community and I'm sure others will be along with their suggestions shortly.
 

Jaded'n'faded

Registered User
Jan 23, 2019
5,258
0
High Peak
No, they are not allowed to keep his money! An attorney is not permitted to benefit from their position in any way.

How it works is this: his care costs are paid out of his savings only, not your mum's. If they have a joint bank account, half is considered to be hers and half his. They should separate these monies so that it's clear what is your step-father's share. I'm assuming they also own a house but this will be disregarded in a financial assessment if your mum is still living there. (If she isn't, they would have to sell it and use his half of the money for his care.) When his savings fall below about £23,500, social services will start to contribute on a sliding scale till he gets down to £14,000 then they will pay all his costs. (Though they will take his pensions!) In order to establish at what point SS start paying, your step-dad will have a financial assessment. This is very thorough. SS can look back on bank statements for years so if his daughter and son have somehow squirreled away some of his funds, they will know. If they can't/won't put it back, he will be assessed as if the money was still there, so their plans are likely to fail. Such spending or removal of the person's money is known as Deprivation of Assets. If you suspect this is happening you can approach the Office of the Public Guardian but they will not act without proof.
 

Xhanlbxx

Registered User
Aug 31, 2019
182
0
Hiya ,

So just because they have power of attorney this does not give them the right to keep money if it is needed for your step fathers care.

The point of a power of attorney appointment is to ensure that the affairs of the person who may of or could in the future lose capacity to make decisions has the decisions made for them .

If your stepfather has savings the best interest of him would be to use the savings to pay for his care - if social services get wind of them holding back money the power of attorney could get revoked
 

northumbrian_k

Volunteer Host
Mar 2, 2017
4,415
0
Newcastle
Hi @filll44 and welcome to Dementia Talking our supportive and friendly community. A first question to ask is whether the Attorneys have arranged a financial assessment by the council.
This would take account of any pension income and savings that are solely your stepdad's plus a half share of anything held jointly. If the amount is above a threshold of £23,250 the assessment would be 'light touch' and he will be deemed to be self-funding. In that circumstance any pension and savings should be used by the Attorneys to fund his care. They can't keep anything back if it is needed to meet the cost of care.

Once his assets fall below the threshold the council should be asked for a full financial assessment. Proof of income and assets will need to be provided by the Attorneys. Social services may try to suggest a different care plan. If care home is the only option and this is agreed by social services the financial assessment is key to working out how much he will have to contribute to his care costs (part-funding). The Local Authority would then pick up the balance.

This is just a broad description of the process. Information on paying for care and financial assessment should be available from the council.

Under no circumstances should Attorneys attempt to hide or 'protect' funds rather than use them to meet care costs.