Advice about joint bank account after DH taken into long term care

All suggestions are appreciated. It’s like learning a new language for me at the moment and trial and error with how to handle and interact with him just now. Finding out what works and what doesn’t.

sandye

My mum was in a similar position with Dad. He always had to have at least a few notes in his wallet but was forever losing it. We got toy money and put that in and he was happy. Not lot of help but you may have to take it a bit further and make sure he has an upto date copy of a bank acc statement but just change the date. sorry not a lot of help.

What a good idea for those with dementia. My dad liked some notes in his wallet too.

Just wanted to add one thing that may help. If your husband is coming home then please make sure you have the 25% severe mental impairment discount on your council tax bill for him although if you are solely reliant on benefits now you may already be receiving full council tax support so this may not be relevant.
Speak to Age Uk, they can advise on all the issues.

If your husband is no longer able to consent to power of attorney, you will need to get a court deputyship order to manage his financial affairs. This can take quite a while to obtain, and the form is very complex so I would advise seeing a solicitor. Think who you might want to put on as deputies as you can have several, to act jointly and severally.
Someone younger is a good idea as well as yourself.
It would be a very good idea for you to get power of attorney sorted for yourself as you can see what might happen if you become ill yourself. My father's arrived after he died!
It wo

Luckygirl3

The OP is not applying to the LA but to the health service for CHC funding which carries no financial assessments. That needs to be decided on first. Hopefully LA financial assessments will not be required if this is granted.

CHC funding applies both to care at home and care in a residential/nursing setting.

Where does it say OP is applying for CHC? I can only see she is applying for help regarding her bank accounts and how best to fund her husband's care after his initial access to care. She later says she has decided they will be able to cope at home, I can't see anything about CHC unless I have missed something??

sankev - what an awful situation you have been plunged into. Although you say that the information is swirling around, I feel that you have a good sense of the position you are in and the challenges ahead. Bit by bit I'm sure you will work things out, with the support of your family.

At 64, you will not yet be getting your state pension yet and you say that you have no savings. Your worry is not whether 50% of assets will be taken into account to pay for care costs, but what you are going to live on. Caring for your DH has been your 'job' for some years now. But that job doesn't come with a wage or a pension does it? I wonder if Carers UK might be able to help you with advice and support?

My mum looked after my dad as his health declined, until he died. Fortunately they had savings, because they only had state pensions and attendance allowance, and she was shocked to realise how much less income was coming in while bills are going up.

Your main preoccupation is obviously your DH's condition, but you need to think about yourself too. I hope that you can get DH home, where he will be more settled, but you need a plan for yourself too.

I agree with Win, you are getting too much conflicting advice here, please go to Cittizens Advice or Age UK before doing anything.

AuntieE
Do not continue with a joint account! These are frozen when one holder dies and the other is only able to access the money in the joint account after probate has been granted

I’m afraid you are wrong AuntieE. In the UK the funds from a joint account, after one holder’s death, automatically revert to the existing account holder.

The OP is not applying to the LA but to the health service for CHC funding which carries no financial assessments. That needs to be decided on first. Hopefully LA financial assessments will not be required if this is granted.

CHC funding applies both to care at home and care in a residential/nursing setting.

You are getting a lot of mixed advice here, each council works differently, so to get the correct information for your area, you do need to take advice from all the places mention up thread.
Good luck. Often it is sadly a post code lottery.

I cared for my husband for 11 years and started off like you not really understanding the system. My husband had a massive stroke became paralysed, lost capacity and his speech completely. As he could not agree to a Power of Attorney I had to go the court of protection and apply for deputyship, which is what you will need to be able to administer your husband's money. I see the hospital has discharged him to a care home for access to care. Once they have assessed him the full funding stops. If you are not self funding they will do a financial assessment of your husband's situation, hence at this stage it is very wise to divide your accounts in to two splitting everything 50/50 they cannot touch your 50% but they will take most of your husbands money leaving him with only so much for personal items I think it is around £35 per week at the moment. Your house will be totally disregarded even if you own it. You will as you rightly say have to apply for benefits in your own right. Your husband can apply for attendance allowance if you keep him at home but if he stays in care he will lose that too, you only keep it if you are self funding. Social services will do a needs assessment for your husband if you bring him home and you can have a carers assessment from your local carers organisation or Social Services can do it, but we always find the commissioned care provider (not domiciliary company) is better at assessing carers. You can continue to claim carers allowance if he stays at home until you get your pension, then you lose it as you cannot claim 2 benefits at the same time.

As everyone says Age UK are really good, there are also loads of brilliant carers forums on Face Book, another one is Talking Point on line which is run by the Alzheimer's society, Just put Talking Point in to your browser. Keep asking questions here on GN too there are so many of us with caring experience. I wish you all the best in going forward and really sorry that you have to travel this road too.

Sorry, a bit abrupt before. Yes, you have had a terrible time, so now take a breath - it is a bereavement, so take time to grieve too. If you have help and family around you, let them take up the burden a bit. Make an appointment with Citizens Advice too get expertise.

All benefits will not stop, they will go to his care placement once he has been permanently placed. The six weeks is a grace that you will continue to receive as his permanent home is still yours.

If you are alone and unemployed, you will need to apply for income support, and reduced council tax (you get a reduction just for being a sole occupant), and may get more if your income is low.

Check your state pension, because as a carer, you will have been entitled to NI contributions paid for you.

If HE has any work or private pensions, do contact them to see if his dementia may activate a payment, some do.

AuntieE

You need to discuss this with your bank manager and the hospital your husband is in should have a social worker who can advise you as well.

Do not continue with a joint account! These are frozen when one holder dies and the other is only able to access the money in the joint account after probate has been granted.

I do not know, but I suspect a joint account may be frozen upon a person being declared mentally incompetent.

Open an account in your own name immediately and notify the source of your income, (employer or pensions office) that all payments from now on are to be paid into it.

I don't live in Britain, so I do not know if you can legally transfer any money from the joint account now into an account in your name. Your bank will know this, so get onto them as soon as humanly possible.

Find out from a solicitor whether you can cancel subscriptions in your husband's name to magazines, clubs etc that he no longer is able to enjoy.And discuss the terms of your husband's will with a solicitor now, as he is no longer competent to change it, or make one, if he never has done so, so you need to know how you and your children will be placed.

I am so sorry to hear of this dreadful illness - you are right that the paranoia is part of his illness. Sadly, such paranoia usually is directed quite unreasonably at the patient's spouse. Try not to take it to heart, but I know this is nearly impossible.

I hope your adult children are a help to you in this sad trial for you all.

That is wrong a joint account is " either or survivor " so it would not be frozen if one of the joint holders dies. I worked in a bank .

4allweknow

If DH was in hospital for 6 weeks or more his benefits will have reduced if not stopped. Sure you are aware DWP have to be informed of his admissions to hospital and care home. As to joint bank account tgere shoukd be no problem you having changed solely to your name. When my DH died I did that with no problem. Credit card issued on the account was dealt with by a new card being issued. You have been dealing with a lot of very stressful situations. Look after yourself.

You cannot just change a bank account to one name only if the other person is still alive. It would need his consent which he cannot give . Power of Atorney would be good but more difficult now . Speak to someone in the bank and try citizens advice as well . Does your husband have a social worker or is there someone in the hospital who can advise ? They used to have years ago but I do not know what the position is now .
I am sorry you are left in this difficult position it must be hard on top of loosing the husband you used to have.

Empty the joint account into your own savings, leaving only enough for the direct debits. If they start looking for care home fees, then half of it will be considered his. Same with any joint savings - do it NOW before he gets committed.

Get expert help with the long and complex forms for care home costs and do not take no for an answer - you do hear stories about some councils refusing cost for care or being niggly about what they pay or will not.

sankev
I am so sorry that you find yourself in this situation and you are in my thoughts.
I used to work for Citizens Advice and we often helped people in your situation so I would strongly advise you to make an appointment with your local branch. They should be able to advise you on benefits and point you in the right direction for other issues. They will certainly also make phone calls or write letters for you if you don’t feel up to doing them yourself. One piece of advice, take as much paperwork such as bank statements, benefit letter etc. with you as they will probably need these so it would save time. You will feel so much better if you get all these things sorted out. Keep your chin up.

Many thanks Luckygirl3. Your positive thoughts are very much appreciated. I am obviously focused on the situation I find myself in at the moment but I am conscious that I need some respite and a little time to myself. It’s something I think I will factor into the overall plan.

Do not continue with a joint account! These are frozen when one holder dies and the other is only able to access the money in the joint account after probate has been granted. - this is not true! I continued drawing on our joint account until he died and then took the death cert to the bank and they took his name off the account. Simple.

sankev - I am glad that you have been able to make a decision with your family. I hope that the plan has factored in time for you to go out and enjoy yourself - it is very very important and needs to be part of the care plan - care for you matters too! A burnt out carer cannot be a good carer! Living with someone who has changed personality and does not behave normally towards you is an incredible strain. It is very easy to become so focussed in handling this awful dilemma that you get lost.

I hope very much that it works out, but if there comes a point where you need to look at residential or nursing care, please do not see it as a failure. People's needs change over time and it is important to respond to these changes.

I managed my husband at home for a long time, but he did in the end go to a nursing home which we selected with great care. The moment was right. I knew I had done my best with care at home and could arrange this move with a clear conscience as I knew they could meet his needs better than I at that point.

I am sending positive thoughts and lots of good wishes.

After a lot of family discussions we have decided to at least try to get him home with a care package in place because I honestly don’t think he will survive very long unless we do. They are beginning some psychiatric medication because of the delirium which they think has caused a psychosis. I’m hoping that bringing him home may help him settle because he is such a tormented soul at the moment and seems so lost. I understand how difficult it is going to be and I don’t actually expect any improvement towards me but I am hoping it will help him relax. Thanks to all of you for the advice and kind words and it has helped me not only deal with the immediate situation but also plan for future problems. All your advice is greatly appreciated.

You can have your own account. DH and I have a joint account and individual accounts too. In fact, I have several bank accounts for separate things. Yes, DH knows about them and also exactly how much, or rather how little I have in each.

As AuntieE say, she does not live in England.

Joint accounts in England are not frozen when one person dies. A death certificate is all that is needed to transfer the account to the remaining holder.

Illness (of any kind) is only a problem if both signatures are required on a withdrawal.

Please don’t let her post cause you worry or panic you into closing your account.

Perhaps you would like to check this AuntieE and post a withdrawal to reassure sankev?

You need to discuss this with your bank manager and the hospital your husband is in should have a social worker who can advise you as well.

Do not continue with a joint account! These are frozen when one holder dies and the other is only able to access the money in the joint account after probate has been granted.

I do not know, but I suspect a joint account may be frozen upon a person being declared mentally incompetent.

Open an account in your own name immediately and notify the source of your income, (employer or pensions office) that all payments from now on are to be paid into it.

I don't live in Britain, so I do not know if you can legally transfer any money from the joint account now into an account in your name. Your bank will know this, so get onto them as soon as humanly possible.

Find out from a solicitor whether you can cancel subscriptions in your husband's name to magazines, clubs etc that he no longer is able to enjoy.And discuss the terms of your husband's will with a solicitor now, as he is no longer competent to change it, or make one, if he never has done so, so you need to know how you and your children will be placed.

I am so sorry to hear of this dreadful illness - you are right that the paranoia is part of his illness. Sadly, such paranoia usually is directed quite unreasonably at the patient's spouse. Try not to take it to heart, but I know this is nearly impossible.

I hope your adult children are a help to you in this sad trial for you all.

So sorry to read your post sankev………you must be feeling so lost and torn. Please speak to a solicitor to get advice on getting matters in order. There are also charities who assist with benefit claims etc so don’t feel that you’re on your own.

I suggest you contact the hospital social work team ( if the hospital still has them, sometimes they refer out to a district team.) Unless your husband is to remain in hospital, thé medical and discharge planning staff (might be a social worker) will be looking to create a discharge plan after this assessment period, for your husbands longer term needs. All of this will take time. .

My husband was in hospital with delirium and possible frontal lobe dementia last year. He went into rehab where they more or less said I wouldn't be able to cope with him at home. Regardless I had him back and he improved considerably. There are some changes, ie lack of consideration for me and my situation and he can be childlike and demanding at times, but basically he can manage day to day living, plus social life. I'm not saying you are in the same situation at all but that it is worth making sure that there is no way back before you commit to care. It may be that is your only option and if so you have my heartfelt sympathy and I hope that you will get the help and support that you need in this terrible time. Thinking of you.