My mother has been assessed as needing to go into a care
home, will she be made to sell her home?
If your mother has to go into a care home she will have to
pay at least part of her fees. However, this doesn’t always mean that the
family home will have to be sold. Before moving into a care home, a financial
assessment will be completed to calculate how much your mother will have to pay
towards her home fees. In Northern Ireland if you have capital which exceeds
£23,250, which includes the value of your home, the local Health and Social
Care Trust will assess you as being able to meet the full cost of your
residential care or nursing home.
As your mother is a
home owner the value of property may be counted as capital 12 weeks after she
moves into a residential care or nursing home on a permanent basis. However,
the home won’t be counted as capital if any of the following people still live
there: l husband, wife, partner or civil partner l a close relative who is 60
or over, or incapacitated l a close relative under the age of 16 who they are
legally liable to support l ex-husband, ex-wife, ex-civil partner or ex-partner
if they are a lone parent There are other circumstances when the local Trust
may choose not to count your mother’s home as capital, for example, if her
carer lives there. If your mother’s stay in residential care or nursing home is
temporary, she may have to make a contribution to the cost.
A full financial
assessment may not be completed for the first eight weeks, in which case the
Health and Social Care Trust will determine a fair contribution for your mother
to make. If her stay is temporary, the home won’t be counted as capital.
Giving money or
property to other people If your mother had recently given money or assets to
her children or grandchildren the Trust may consider that they have deprived
themselves of a capital asset in order to reduce the accommodation charge.
If this is found to be the case, the Trust may treat them as still
possessing the asset and can recover the cost of the care from them or the
person(s) who received the gift. Also if an asset is given to someone within
the seven years before they die, the person who receives the gift may have to
pay Inheritance Tax on it. It is against the law to transfer ownership of an
asset to another person specifically to avoid paying care home fees. An
alternative to selling the home may be to rent it out to tenants and use the
rent to pay care home fees.
Before your mother’s
financial assessment, it would be worthwhile to contact your local Citizens
Advice to make sure she is getting all the benefits she is entitled to. This is
important because contribution to home fees will be based on all income -
including benefits. For further information on nursing or care homes and fees
the Age NI Advice and Advocacy Service offers independent and confidential
support to older people, their families and carers.
SOURCE: Unicef
No comments:
Post a Comment