Margaret was 84 and widowed. After a fall and a stay in hospital, her family agreed she couldn't manage at home any more and she moved into a care home near her daughter, Karen.
What happened
Margaret had about £40,000 in savings and owned her house outright, worth around £230,000. Karen assumed the council would help once the savings ran low. For the first few weeks it did seem that way.
Then a letter arrived. After 12 weeks, the house would be counted. Margaret was a self-funder, at £1,250 a week. The family had to choose between selling the house or entering a deferred payment agreement with the council.
The fallout
- There was no power of attorney, so Karen had to apply to the Court of Protection before anything could be done with the house.
- Fees built up for months while the application went through.
- Margaret had always said she wanted the house to go to her grandchildren. Over four years in care, most of its value went on fees.
What could have been different
Some things couldn't have been changed. But with powers of attorney in place, the family could have acted quickly. And if Margaret and her late husband had looked at their wills and how the house was owned years earlier, more of it might have been protected for the family.
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