Tweet
Hi
I am looking for some advice for my mother, relating to payment for my grandmother being in a care home and how the council view my grandmothers assets. The difficulty being that my grandmother doesn't have any property in her name. It is probably easiest if I give a timeline of events first:
1998 Grandfather died, and left 50% of his home to my mother, whilst the other 50% remained with my grandmother (who continued living at the property). Both names were on the title deeds. The property was owned outright, no mortgage.
2008 My grandmother signed over her share of the property to my mother, so my mother became the sole name on the property title (I presume this was classed as a gift??). My mother then paid a deposit on a flat (warden assisted) for my grandmother, and my mother has paid the mortgage on this flat ever since. The flat was (and still is) in my mothers name, so no property at all was in my grandmothers name - this was in no way to avoid tax or potential care home costs (the possibility of a care home didn't even cross anyone's minds), it was just a sensible solution to my mother needing somewhere to live (following a divorce), and my gran needing some assistance and a smaller place.
2017 My grandmother (who has now had dementia for several years) has had to be moved into a care home. The flat is currently up for sale (still with a mortgage being paid by my mother). My mother continues to live in my grandparents old property with no mortgage. My mother is the only name on both property deeds, so the legal owner of both properties. To make matters more difficult my mother never sorted power of attorney out for my grandmother, although she has very recently been given deputyship.
The local council have come to the decision that my grandmother has assets, therefore they are charging my grandmother (via my mother) the full cost of the care home. I have no idea what assumption they are making on the value of her 'assets'. She has less than £23,250 in physical savings.
What I am wondering is what is the legal basis that the council are stating my grandmother has assets? Are they allowed to treat the flat or the original property as her asset even though it is not in her name? There are a few scenarios I can think of:
1. All property is in my mothers name and have been for 10 years, therefore my grandmother legally has no assets. Given she has less than £23k savings then the council should be paying for her care home fees.
2. The flat is considered my grandmothers asset (regardless of it not being in her name), therefore whatever comes from the sale of the property (once the mortgage is paid off) would have to pay the full care costs, until her savings drop to the £23k threshold
3. 50% of the original property is still considered my grandmothers asset (regardless of not having lived there for 10 years and signing it over to my mother), in which case 50% of the value (at todays prices?) is considered her asset and should be used to pay for care.
Obviously the 3rd option is quite worrying, as this would potentially mean my mother having to see the house and find somewhere cheaper to live so that she can access 50% of the value to pay for care.
Any advice/thoughts welcome
I am looking for some advice for my mother, relating to payment for my grandmother being in a care home and how the council view my grandmothers assets. The difficulty being that my grandmother doesn't have any property in her name. It is probably easiest if I give a timeline of events first:
1998 Grandfather died, and left 50% of his home to my mother, whilst the other 50% remained with my grandmother (who continued living at the property). Both names were on the title deeds. The property was owned outright, no mortgage.
2008 My grandmother signed over her share of the property to my mother, so my mother became the sole name on the property title (I presume this was classed as a gift??). My mother then paid a deposit on a flat (warden assisted) for my grandmother, and my mother has paid the mortgage on this flat ever since. The flat was (and still is) in my mothers name, so no property at all was in my grandmothers name - this was in no way to avoid tax or potential care home costs (the possibility of a care home didn't even cross anyone's minds), it was just a sensible solution to my mother needing somewhere to live (following a divorce), and my gran needing some assistance and a smaller place.
2017 My grandmother (who has now had dementia for several years) has had to be moved into a care home. The flat is currently up for sale (still with a mortgage being paid by my mother). My mother continues to live in my grandparents old property with no mortgage. My mother is the only name on both property deeds, so the legal owner of both properties. To make matters more difficult my mother never sorted power of attorney out for my grandmother, although she has very recently been given deputyship.
The local council have come to the decision that my grandmother has assets, therefore they are charging my grandmother (via my mother) the full cost of the care home. I have no idea what assumption they are making on the value of her 'assets'. She has less than £23,250 in physical savings.
What I am wondering is what is the legal basis that the council are stating my grandmother has assets? Are they allowed to treat the flat or the original property as her asset even though it is not in her name? There are a few scenarios I can think of:
1. All property is in my mothers name and have been for 10 years, therefore my grandmother legally has no assets. Given she has less than £23k savings then the council should be paying for her care home fees.
2. The flat is considered my grandmothers asset (regardless of it not being in her name), therefore whatever comes from the sale of the property (once the mortgage is paid off) would have to pay the full care costs, until her savings drop to the £23k threshold
3. 50% of the original property is still considered my grandmothers asset (regardless of not having lived there for 10 years and signing it over to my mother), in which case 50% of the value (at todays prices?) is considered her asset and should be used to pay for care.
Obviously the 3rd option is quite worrying, as this would potentially mean my mother having to see the house and find somewhere cheaper to live so that she can access 50% of the value to pay for care.
Any advice/thoughts welcome
Comment