This is a very difficult one not sure if anyone here can help but hoping for some advice.

[MONX]

My father passed away on Tuesday last week and we are totally devastated as you can imagine. Mum is in care as she has althzhiemers.

 

Dad left a will which said that he wished his half of the house to be divided between my brother and I and obviously the half my mother owned would go towards her care under the asset rules. (i believe anything over £14,000 is used to pay for her care)

 

We have since learned that mum and dad owned the house under a joint tennancy which means that dads share of the house doesnt become part of dads estate and passes to my mums sole ownership.

 

The house needs to be sold in order to fund mums care and as her daughter it falls to me to do that however in order to do it i have to apply for a "public guardianship" which means that I have to pay a bond to protect mums finances and this is something like £500 (annually i believe) so in effect the government are wanting me to pay for the right and privialige to sell my parents home and then give them the money!

 

To be honest there was barely enough to pay for the funeral so my brother and i have had to use our savings to do that and at this moment I dont even have £500.

 

So my questions are:

 

1. what would happen if i just refused to deal with the sale of the house, would someone be appointed by the government to deal with it?

2. If mum was in care due to being sectioned and currently funded under section 117 of the mental health act, does that mean that she will be continued to be funded by the government?

 

I know that this is a sticky one but dont know where to turn, unable to get appt with cab for weeks and really at the end of my tether. Dealing with the grief and organising funeral is bad enough but having all this over my head at the moment is making me ill. i just hope someone on here can help.

 

Thanks

 

Monx

[honeybee13]

Hello Monx. I'm very sorry to hear about your Dad and the problems with your Mum.

 

My mother also has alzheimers and is in care. Her social worker told me it was capital over £26k that is taken into account, it might be worth looking into that.

 

I don't know about public guardianship because we're getting an LPA, I'll have a look at that later.

 

Does your Mum have a social worker? The one who was allocated to my mother has been very helpful, but I know all this will vary according to the area.

 

Hugs, HB

[honeybee13]

Monx, I found some good information on the Age UK and Alzheimers Society. Have you looked at them?

 

HB

[unclebulgaria67]

Monx, I found some good information on the Age UK and Alzheimers Society. Have you looked at them?

 

HB

 

That is probably the best option. I think Age UK have a helpline you can call. I know in the Age UK shops they have loads of leaflets covering all the different issues.

 

Have not heard of the bond before. With an elderly Aunt, they had the savings to pay for their care, so we did not need to sell her property. She had already issued a power of attorney document, ready to be signed and someone appointed when ready. It required a GP to confirm that she was unable to deal with her affairs. The power of attorney was registered officially and we had to do regular accounts. It was all pretty straightforward.

 

But this is a different situation and you need to get proper advice from the right people.

 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/contacts/opg

[MONX]

Thanks for that HB, will check it out x

[MONX]

Thanks unclebulgaria67 have sent email to their address.

[honeybee13]

Monx, I found my mother's local Age UK really helpful on the phone when I rang them. They deal with this kind of thing all the time and I hope they will find you a simpler and cheaper way of dealing with the situation you have.

 

HB