What Happens To My Money When I Am In Care?
When you, or your loved one, goes into permanent care, you may be wondering what happens to your money. This will primarily depend upon your situation overall, as a number of factors will contribute to what happens to your finances.
Savings
Here in the UK, if you have savings of over £23,000 you will be expected to use your savings in order to fun your care, whether this is in a nursing or care home, and includes respite care. However, if your savings are below the threshold, you may be entitled to state funding for your care, allowing you to retain your savings to be used as you see fit.
State Pension
The allowance to keep your state pension will depend upon the way your care is paid. If you are self-funding, your entire state pension will be yours and should not be taken away in your care facility. However, if your care is funded by the state, you will be expected to pay a contribution to your care which will be taken from your pension. You should still be left with a weekly personal allowance, in England, this should be no less than £24.90 per week.
Private Pensions
If you have a private or work pension when you enter a care home there are a number of considerations to be made.
Firstly, if you have a partner or spouse remaining at home when you move into a care home, you can transfer 50% of the pension to them. This is to ensure that they do not fall into financial hardship after your move. This sum will then need to be disregarded from any local authority financial assessment. At present, this only applies to married couples or civil partnerships. It can also apply, should your spouse be in a care or nursing home, but it cannot be the same home.
However, should you not have a spouse, or your spouse is in the same home, your private pension will be taken into consideration in the same way that your state pension is, with a contribution being taken towards your care, unless you are self-funded.
Where funding and finances are concerned, each individual case will need to be assessed by either the care facility or the local authority. If you are unsure of the process, please contact the team here at Lovett care who will be happy to assist you.