Paying for elderly care: Q&A with Which? Elderly Care

If you have more than the agreed amount of savings, which I believe is £23K+ and find a suitable care home, what happens when you run out of money? Would the local authority move you to a cheaper, maybe less suitable home? This is assuming a spouse is living in the family home.

My mother at 98 recently went into a residential home leaving vacant our family home. Whist the building's structure has been well maintained the last time it saw a paint brush was in about 1975! Therefore it is need of serious decorating and to an extent investment in modern heating system etc. In your view is it worth doing the property up and then either selling it or renting it out using the income to offset her Residential fees? If we let it our plan is to manage it on her behalf. I appreciate we would need to take legal advice and conform to all manner of codes of practice etc but letting houses is in the blood for my mother - who is now living comfortably off the proceeds of early years property/letting investment.
In anticipation of your help, thank you.

Is there any benefit in buying an annuity now for elderly care. My husband is 72 I am 66 years old. We are fit at present but don't have any children. We are concerned that although we have savings and own our own house, we don't want to run out of money in the future and not be able to fund care.

I would want to know the position re the purchase of an annuity as well. Can she explain the difference between English and Scots law.

Alex, I've been paying a third party contribution of £886 per month for my mother's residential home since last July. It is financially crippling and was sneaked in under my radar by the local authority without me realising what I was letting myself in for. I've asked for a review and they have agreed. Is there any chance I could get back the money I have already paid, over five grand!?

What is the difference between attendance allowance and care allowance. Can both be claimed or just one or the other?

When the local authority charge, does any money in the name of the 'fit' spouse come into the case? (Scotland)

My husband will soon be needing to be moved to a nursing home. We have no savings to speak of. I will be staying in our home. If I should die would my husbands fees then have to come from the sale of the house? Or, if I needed to go into care while my husband is alive and in care, would the house be used for both our fees? Thank you.

I've read recently about investing in a buy-to-let room in a care home which you can then use yourself when the time comes. Is this a good idea and a safe investment? We are thinking of down sizing in the near future and wondered if this might be a solution to care home fees.

My Mum has recently been diagnosed with mixed dementia and I want her to come and live with me. If we sell her property and hold the money in case of her eventually needing to go into a care home, can I draw an income from the proceeds of the sale to cover the cost of caring for her myself?

The most worrying aspect can occur when someone has to go into care and a decision has to be made regarding 'Continuing Care', particularly if the person needing care is a home-owner.

There is a massive backlog of hundreds of cases in Sussex regarding people not being properly assessed at the correct time and families having to fight to get an assessment done. This has left families paying out of their own pockets, believing that when the assessment is done they will be reimbursed, but waiting years for a final decision - and then finding that they do not qualify for reimbursement. Others have sold the person's home in a frantic rush, at a knockdown price just to release the money within the three month time limit that has been foisted on them (This was on BBC Radio Sussex this morning)

What should families do in this situation?

Is it always the case that a home owner's property must be sold to pay for care should it become necessary? What happens if the property doesn't sell quickly enough? Who foots the bill for the ongoing care?

My Mum has less than the £23, 250 in savings but I was told during her assessment that she has to contribute because her savings are at the top end of this limit. Huge bills keep coming.
So this figure is a myth isn't it?

I discovered top up fees paid for by the family when my mum went into care, for the best care homes they are huge, can I use her savings to pay them?

Also care homes charge a huge range of fees, so choice is only for the wealthy, most LCC care homes are full, it's inevitable that if you need care you will pay all you have isn't it?

I know too late about making the right provision in your will, leaving money in trust, also safeguarding some of the value of the house. Not leaving everything to your spouse so that the children have no legacy after everything is taken in care home fees. My parents did non of that. But what is your opinion on how we prepare our finances for future care?

Thank you in anticipation for helping with such worrying financial issues for families.

What happens please for the following scenario:
Pensioners with a mortgage, house in one name only
No savings

What would the choices be if any, should one need care? Thank you

Although both fit and healthy, I would like to know how we can ensure that our family receive at least some of the proceeds from our house rather than it go into care home fees. Our house is in both our names and at present our wills leave the estate to each other and on both our deaths it is to be shared equally amongst our children. We have worked hard in our lives and want to ensure that there is a legacy safeguarded for the family. How do we achieve this?

Continuing care is a nonsense and should be scrapped. CCGs do all they can to avoid it .There should be no artificial division between social and health care. You have to have legal clout to fight the CCGS.

We dont own property but we have sole savings accounts (Isa's and Premium bonds) if one of us needs to go into a care home would the local authority have legal access to the others savings accounts.

regalo My OH and I have the same will as you and we are seeing a solicitor to change it. They go through all the financial advantages of leaving half the value of the house in trust for your children.

Much of the money from my mother's house went on care home fees.

Our situation is that we are second time married. We own our home as tenants in common with my husband leaving his share of the house to his children and me to mine. The surviving partner has the right to live in the house as long as it is maintained. We have a joint account for bills but all our savings are kept separate and left to our children, not each other.

Does this sound sensible please?