Can I take half of his pension?

Thank you all

www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/talking-point-our-online-community

The link to Talking Point - the Alzheimer's Soc's on line forum for (mostly) carers of people living with Alzheimer's.

My mum never got any continuing health care despite her dementia. The argument was that she was bed ridden so they knew where she was.

I was there while the Council and NHS battled it out.

A friend of a friend had a similar experience Grannygravy her husband with dementia had a fall, taken to hospital and moved to a care home ,at no cost to her.

She is in a much better financial situation than I am in anyway, they had a family business which their son now runs and my friend had assumed that the company was paying.

However when she told her friend of my "plight" she explained what had happened. This is a few miles from me but a different L.A..

I have PoA and we have separate accounts, I can change my will but my H can't.

Ann I can't really offer any more advise that you've had upthread but notice you don't mention having any allowances or help which is out there. As Granny23 says the Talking Point forum on the Alzheimers site is very helpful. It's some years since I was caring for my parents but I found it invaluable especially fighting SS to get full funding for my mum as she deteriorated over the 4 years she was in care. She only had partial funding when she initially went in and as my dad was still at home they didn't put a charge on their property until he also had to go in. He was fully funded from the start but was only in there a few weeks before he passed away. The charge on their house was gradually reduced once the full funding was in place so we didn't end up paying the original sum that had accrued back to the council.

I hope you are able to get some respite while your husband is away - it is so hard being a carer and having the added stress of financial worries is bound to take it's toll on your health too.

I am no expert, but I think you could transfer ownership of your house from the usual joint tenants, to tenants in common. This means you each own half the house, and I believe SS can't take your part into account when assessing care home charges etc. Just one of you can sever the joint tenancy by completing a form.

There may be reasons why this is not a good idea for you, but it's worth asking an expert for their advice on it. I'm sorry you are having such a hard time.

Can a person actually sign a POA once dementia has been diagnosed?

My step-father was diagnosed with vascular dimentia whilst in hospital for a fall (we all knew he had a problem but had been struggling to get a diagnosis up till then) The hospital assigned a social worker and together with the discharge team decided he had to go into residential care and not return home.

Mum did not to have contribute apart from - costs of haircuts, pediatrists and taxis if he needed to go to doctors, dentist or hospital appointments.

She informed DWP filled in numerous forms. The outcome being that their pensions continued to be paid in full up till his death, without any preconditions. No charge put on their house. ( we are in England, I guess it differs from country to country)

Clearly a minefield.

Also, with a joint account, in certain circumstances the bank can close it when someone has dementia.

Poas are a must.

If you can justify that the money was rightfully shared out. eg, pensions going into different accounts for different uses or historical factors and are open about it, there should be no problem.

There is no time limit.

Sobering fact kittylester but it may be too late to set up separate accounts. I believe that any changes to bank accounts would have had to be in place (don’t know for how long) or SS would be entitled to construe it as a ploy to divert funds, which of course it is, however justified.

Oh Kitty I had never thought of that. You have given me a lightbulb moment. Will investigate separate accounts asap.

Can I point out that, at least in England, the calculations for joint accounts is not straight forward.

Say you have £100,000 in joint accounts (handy sum for illustration)

YEAR 1

Husband £50k
Wife £50k

Husband use £20k for care leaving £30k of his share

But

YEAR 2

Currently account balance -£80k

£50k from Wife + £30k from husband.

Therefore

Husband's share £40k
Wife's share £40k.

Dh uses £20k again

Therefore joint account becomes £60k and Wife's share is down to £30k.

And so on!

Hope that makes sense.

Thank you Granny23 that is what I had been told but the SW who came on Wednesday told me that is not true, hence me being very confused and very upset.

Excellent and very comprehensive information Granny23 you and Annsixty do not need this extra aggravation and worry at the moment - you have enough to cope with.

Ann60 I have just been through these calculations as DH (who also has Dementia) may have to go into residential care at some point)

Although I have a very small private pension of my own - which will not be touched - I am assured that only 50% of DH's private pensions will be taken towards residential care costs, along with his higher rate Attendance Allowance (£84 a week) and his State Pension. Although all our savings are in joint names the calculations will be based on each of us 'owning' 50% so my share would be left intact and DH would have to contribute to care fees until his share reduced to £24,000 (that won't take long). They cannot touch the house as long as a spouse is still living in it, but can put a 'charge' against it, reclaimable on the death of the spouse.

As we are in Scotland the 'personal care' element of care home costs is met by the state, we will only be paying the 'hotel' costs. DH's recent week in Respite Care cost us £625 although the real cost would have been £1,200- to £1,400. Still expensive, but not too bad considering that we had income of his private and state pension + attendance allowance to set against this, and he had all meals and snacks provided.

We had an appointment with the 'specialist' from the CAB via the local Carer's Centre, who completed the successful Attendance Allowance claim and advised about the 25% reduction in Council Tax which we now have. I have since joined Talking Point, the forum run by the Alzheimers Society, which is full of helpful hints, tips and support, although I have to be very careful as the rules are very different in Scotland, while most of the advice and comment applies to England and Wales.

Persevere Annsixty and arm yourself with as much factual information and advice as you can muster. Many house insurances include access to legal advice, I do not know if that would be relevant here, but do consult as many reputable agencies as you can.
SS can indeed be bullies, this is not only DH’s future, but yours.

Pendants, I know I missed at least one comma. ?

Thank you all for your very sound advice.
I have opened the links and believe I can claim half of the occupational pension.
I have been advised to get in touch with the provider to get the full terms as if my H paid for a pension for us both ,SS may have to capitulate.
I must say I hope very fervently that it never comes to this but time will tell.

This may sound ridiculous and 'off the wall', but if you were to divorce you would be entitled to at least half of everything, including the pension. In any event, I believe you could serve a notice to sever the tenancy ie so that you own your half share of the house and put it out of reach . This all seems a bit OTT, I know, but might be worth considering if there is no other way. But you would have to examine everything very carefully and take advice. If you were divorced you wouldn't get the widow's pension, if there is one.

Sorry if this is rambling but it all sounds so unfair!

Another point, ann! If Dh were to die, his pension would revert to the 'original' state -I think. So your income from it would remain as it was.

There is a service called POhWER who act as advocates for people in all sorts of areas of life including the care sector. I dont know how to put a link to them on here but just google them and you can find out if they operate in your area and contact them for advise.

annsixty, here is a link to the Age UK Fact Sheet on the subject. This says that SS can only take 50% of his pension because they are joint pensions, to provide for both of you. However SS are both bullies and frequently liars on matters financial, so be very wary of anything they say.

I would ring your local Age UK branch and talk to their Information and advice people. Also recruit a friend or family member, one not easily bullied, to work with you. There is safety in numbers, when everything is said to two people and you always have a witness.
www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs39_paying_for_care_in_a_care_home_if_you_have_a_partner_fcs.pdf

Sorry, I should have made it clear that you need a dementia diagnosis and to be in receipt of attendance allowance to be eligible for the Council tax relief.