Deciding who pays for elderly care
There are several options for paying for elderly care
- Full funding: NHS will fully fund care, if they assess that health needs are so great that they require it. This takes the agreement of two or more nurses from your primary care trust
- Attendance Allowance: this is granted for help at home, or in care for anyone over 65 who needs help with eating or bathing. This allowance stops if you need fuller care levels
- Nursing care contribution: paid at home,
or in care home. This differs by local authority - Personal expense allowance: If your care is provided by the local authority, they take your state pension away, but allow you to keep £22.60 a week for personal expenses (£23 in Wales)
What will the local authority fund?
The local authority will fully fund long-term care, if your parent’s financial assets, including property, are less than £14,250. Over that, they will part fund, but if total assets are more than £23,250, your parent has to pay for care
How is this tested?
The local authority will means test your parent
Means testing does not apply for care at home
Property is not included in the means tests if a partner or spouse still lives there, or if someone over 60 who is incapacitated lives there, or if there is a lone parent with a dependent under 16 living there
The means test on property is minus any outstanding mortgage
If your parent’s assets come to more than £23, 250 and no one in the above categories lives there, they will have to sell their home to pay for care. Authorities are wise to children buying their parent’s home to avoid this. You are given 12 weeks to sell and after that, there is a deferral payment system for back payments to the local authority once the house is sold
You can use property equity to buy financial products to fund care, or use towards property rental
The Means test
This looks at all savings and assets:
- Bank and building society accounts
- National insurance savings and bonds
- Stocks, shares and all investments
- State income and pensions
- Property and land
- Jointly held assets with a partner are deemed to be split 50/50
This does not include:
- Surrender value of life policies and annuities
- Compensation payments held in trust
- Investment bonds in life assurance
- Property lived in by partner or dependents
- War widow payments
- Disability living allowance
- Spouse payments from pensions
