older relative needs to go into care home?

[Denisec4502]

My elderly uncle needs to go into a care home. He lives in a Council flat at the moment and he has about �60,000 in savings, but he is trying to keep that a secret from social services in case he has to pay more money. I think this is so wrong to hide this information and am sure they financially assess patients? My dad says it should be against the law for them to trace through his bank account, but I am sure they can.... ??

[Mandamoo]

Hi there, I think they can trace it. When my Nan passed away they checked her accounts and my parents' bank accounts too, so I know they definitely can. To get around this, my parents transferred lots of money into bank accounts under my sister's name because that was harder for them to trace. Sorry this hasn't been very helpful!! x

[black bunny]

Yes they can trace money held in accounts, but I think they'd need a court order to do so...

[bednobs]

it wont do him any good in the long run. if he plead poverty, he will be put in the crappiest council run home, with no choice at all. if he can pay, then at least he can chose one that dosent smell of cabbage and wee and that thinks entertainment is somethng more than sittling in front of a fish tank all day

[Whoever]

Your uncle obviously worked and saved hard all his life, presumably saving for his old age.
Now sadly, he's reached his old age and he should think very carefully before trying to dispose of his money as there will be very stringent checks to discover whether he has disposed of it. If he has, now he is on the point of needing residential care, he will be deemed to have divested himself deliberately and the Local Authority will not fund him. So then he could face the dilemma of not being able to have any care at all. And if he gets away with it, as bednobs has pointed out, he will have no choice of accommodation and probably have to settle for the lowest grade care home available and he will hate it. He will then have a lot of time to sit and reflect that he could have ended his days in much nicer surroundings if he'd used his �60,000 savings to pay for it. Sadly, this is now the reality of what "saving for your old age" is all about. Or is there another agenda here, with other family members worrying about losing a possible future inheritance ?

[Mully79]

I have an elderly uncle who had to go into a care home a few years ago. He had around �60,000 savings too. They WILL check accounts, I think there is a "gift" limit per annum, so it's not like he could just give it all away.

They will use his savings to pay for 100% of care until it drops to around the �20K mark. Then they will start to pay for a proportion of his care, until his savings dwindle to I think �13K, then he will receive full funding.

If you want him to go to a private home, there will be about a �60 a week "top-up" that is to be paid by a relative. He CANNOT use his own savings to pay for this. My mother pays for my uncle's top-up fees, she works at his care home & receives a small discount which helps a bit. Her working there also allows her to make sure he is cared for properly.....

Once in a home, he will be restricted to an "allowance" of his own savings, i.e. enough money to buy beer, cigs, sweets, etc. This is to stop people from giving their money away. He keeps receipts to prove that his money is being spent on his own items, and they check his bank statements too. My mother always makes sure his full amount is spent every week and has managed to (artfully) skim some off to put in an account which she then uses to help pay for the "top up". It's insane.

I'm disgusted that my uncle has worked a 60 hour week for 50 years, saved damn hard and lived frugally, and wanted his savings to be given to my mother as an "inheritance" (she is like a daughter to him), and it's being frittered away on care that he should have received for free in his old age. Yet someone who has barely worked in their life, scammed the benefits system, and has no savings receives free care? He has told her many times that he wishes he had died before he had to go into care, so that she could have benefitted.

[McNoodle]

Not only can they trace it, they can go back quite far and investigate any 'suspicious' movements of large amounts of cash/purchases in other peoples names, such as family members.

[Lindylou]

Tell him to spend it before he is assessed. If it is discovered that he has �60,000 in savings then he is liable to pay for his care. He is allowed to have �20,000 but even then will be expected to pay a certain amount. And, why shouldn't he? Not sure why the great British public should be expected to pay for his care if he can afford it. If he's living in a Council flat then I'm surprised that he's got �60,000 in savings anyway. Thousands of pensioners who have worked hard all their lives haven't been able to save - they've had trouble earning enough to live on anyway, let alone save!