Hi
@wilko73
I think your talk in your original post of the LA taking your pension has confused people as this is what happens when you move into a care home, but not when you are still living at home.
When someone moves into a care home the financial situation is as
@jaymor has described, but when they are still at home there is a different system The two threshold of £23,500 and £14,000 still exists, but the LA does not take the pensions and Attendance Allowance (and other benefits) continue. SS agree a level of care, but if you are over the upper threshold you can either get SS to source the care and then repay SS the full amount, or you can just arrange it yourself (you can even arrange more than SS would do)
If you are under the lower threshold then SS will look at your income and if that is low too then they will pay the full amount of the care that they have agreed. If your income is high then you would be expected to pay at least some of it from your income. The finance department has lots of different allowances for different things, so they will calculate what your total allowance is for your circumstances. I dont know the details, but can say that the man from the financial department spotted that I had bought kylie sheets and said that incontinence gave extra allowance for incontinence products, washing and extra bedding. It seemed reasonably fair.
Between the two thresholds there is a sort of sliding scale and you are expected to use some of your savings to pay towards the care. As the saving go down, the amount you are asked to pay reduces.
I would also like to add that it is, of course, only the person with dementias income and savings that are considered. They dont look at the income of the spouse