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Financial Care SolutionsFinancial Care Solutions
  • Financial Care Solutions
  • About You
    • Retirement Planning
    • Later Life Planning
    • Care Fees Planning
  • About Us
    • Our fees
    • Care Planning Guides
  • News
  • Get in touch

Care Fees Planning

A typical person that would come to me for care would be the son or daughter, maybe with a power of attorney for their mum or dad, or maybe a niece or nephew, someone with responsibility to look after the care and put some arrangements in place.

Or maybe it’s the solicitor, acting as attorney or with a deputyship to manage for their client.

I guess the biggest concern is the cost of care. Everybody is very aware that care is really expensive.

Sometimes people have the feeling that the Local Authority will pick up the tab if you run out of money. But that’s not always the case.

It really depends on the circumstances.

When people think about care, it often happens at a time of crisis, in the majority of cases.

This can be unfortunate because, if they haven’t considered anything at outset or carried out any planning, it means they might be making decisions that are unsustainable.

For example, putting the relative into a lovely care home, which they fall in love with, and then discovering a few months down the line that the money is running out.

In many cases, the Local Authority aren’t going to pick up the tab and the family can’t afford to pay the shortfall, which means the person has to move.

Leaving a legacy

People have worked incredible hard all of their lives and feel like they want to leave a legacy for their loved ones.

So they feel that if they enter a care environment, their money will be spent and they won’t be able to leave anything for their loved ones.

Care residents often become progressively worse in terms of their health; not always, but often they do. And it’s very important to have that Plan B or even Plan C in place, so the plan can be adjusted if that needs to happen in the future.

There’s nothing worse than having to move a loved one out of a very comfortable care home, where they are happy, because their money has run out and there’s no other option.

It can be very bad for their health too. Having a plan in place helps to avoid that scenario.

Early planning is key

The earlier you can think about these issues, and at least discuss them with family, the much easier the process becomes.

It’s a minefield for people who have never been through this before; sometimes it’s difficult to think about the order to address issues.

People will often address the care first and the money second. But the two issues are so closely related, so it’s important to think about both at the same time.

But care fees planning can cause a lot of overwhelm. I understand why there’s a tendency to park the financial side of things until the individual is settled into care.

Individuals can have a care needs assessment from the Local Authority at the very beginning, to find out what care looks like, and the best type of care for that individual.

And then take it from there. Because it could be various things.

Lots of options

It doesn’t necessarily mean that somebody has to enter a residential or a nursing home setting. Lots of people have care at home very successfully and for many, living in sheltered accommodation where there’s a warden on-site is a positive option.

There’s a lot of variety out there in terms of what’s on offer for people. But if you leave it until the last minute or when there’s a crisis, your options can be quite limited.

That’s why I always think it’s better if the individual can make their own choice about where they want to live and what care looks like for them in the longer term.

It’s very important to get the care setting right. And really most importantly is that going to work for their needs.

I can help

Some people have quite straightforward needs and they’ll stay that way for quite a long time.

Other people might have a diagnosis and they need specialist care; maybe not straight away, but it’s quite likely that that would happen quite soon.

So it’s important to be mindful of that and factor that into the decision that you make in terms of where the loved one is going to be.

If you’re in this situation or you’re not quite sure you know where to go, what to think about, I’d be happy to have a chat if you’d like to give me a call or you can schedule a call to my website and we can have a chat about your needs.

I can tell you if there’s something I can help you with or give you some guidance on where to go for some further information, if that helps your situation.

Planning for long term care

Why you should have a Power of Attorney in place

How to fund long term care

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  • Financial Care Solutions Ltd
  • Abbey House, 25 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QZ
  • 01737 321 206
  • catriona@financialcaresolutions.co.uk
  • https://www.financialcaresolutions.co.uk

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