Prepaid funeral

[Brumsteve]

Hi there,
My mother has been in a care home for nearly 5 years now and her self funding is coming to an end with the LA now taking over funding for her care. With her money now dwindling and the fact she still has to make a contribution from her pension are we allowed to use what money she has got left to prepay for her funeral to ensure that she gets a decent one when the day comes or will the LA frown on us using that money? I'm only talking about a simple/standard one, nothing extravagent.

 

[Louise7]

Hi @Brumsteve there's been various discussions here previously and it appears that there is no 'definitive' guidance, and local authorities can do things differently. The best thing to do is to contact your mother's local authority finance team in writing, explain the circumstances, and ask if the purchase of a pre-paid funeral plan for your mother would be considered deprivation of assets. You may find this previous thread helpful:

Pre-paid funeral plan and deliberate deprivation of assets

My wife has been in a care home for over 2 years now with mixed dementia and, following the recent death of a relative, I am now thinking about getting a pre-paid funeral plan for both of us. As far as my wife is concerned, I am slightly concerned about the deprivation of assets aspect of...

forum.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[Brumsteve]

Thank you Louise7 for sharing that thread. Some useful information there and I'll be contacting the LA finance department to seek their views.

 

[cymbid]

What can they do about it , if you do buy the prepaid funeral. Take you to court and forbid the funeral? How exactly do social work reclaim any monies they think are deliberate reduction in capital.? If you give your children money for example (and they spend it on their mortgage etc) how can social ever recoup that ?

 

[Louise7]

Hi @cymbid Age UK have a useful factsheet which explains about deprivation of assets, including various scenarios and how debts might be recovered. As mentioned above though, action taken by local authorities can vary:

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs40_deprivation_of_assets_in_social_care_fcs.pdf

 

[nitram]

N

What can they do about it , if you do buy the prepaid funeral. Take you to court and forbid the funeral? How exactly do social work reclaim any monies they think are deliberate reduction in capital.? If you give your children money for example (and they spend it on their mortgage etc) how can social ever recoup that ?

They may try to reclaim a large sum,
First step of to add it to assets as capital.

 

[sdmhred]

be interesting to see what the LA come back with - depending on how broke they are I imagine. I would also ask WHO they expect to pay for her funeral should they state this is deprivation of assets. Funerals are expensive and you may or may not be able or willing to pay yourself. In which case what goes around, comes around as the state will have to pay for the funeral itself.

it feels so distasteful to have to address these questions, but necessary for forward planning and peace of mind.

mums funeral has just cost 6K. Yes we had a few extras (limousine, a few flowers plus a church) but nothing extravagant. We’re in an expensive part of the country and everything extra was totted up and billed for. Thankfully she had paid the majority in advance and the estate will cover the rest

 

[Clarrisa]

Gosh, how awful to even have to consider contacting the LA to ask their 'permission' when you're going through so much. If the LA come back with a negative response, please contact your MP. Good luck.

 

[nitram]

I would also ask WHO they expect to pay for her funeral should they state this is deprivation of assets.

Answer is likely to be 'the deceased out of the £14250 lower limit' .

 

[albo]

Everyone will need a funeral so I don't know how the LA could possibly dispute one being paid for in advance it would be done for peace of mind not to deprive the LA of any money.

 

[Grannie G]

I asked our social worker if a pre paid funeral was accepted from my husband`s money and she said it`s the best way to spend it.

As there seems no uniform guidance, I would ask whoever would be responsible for care home fees, when the money runs out.

 

[Brumsteve]

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. I'll contact the LA finance department and ask what the LA position is.