How Can I Afford Care Fees?
Kiran and her mother had been clients for a number of years, and we had reviewed their investment and financial plans on a regular basis. Sadly, Kiran’s mother started to exhibit memory loss and was subsequently diagnosed with dementia. Kiran still lived with her mother, and was part owner of the family home, but was worried that when her mother was taken into a care home that the cost of the fees would eat into her mother’s share of the equity in house, which might eventually mean the home would need to be sold to cover these costs.
We started planning for this by first ensuring a Lasting Power of Attorney had been drawn up and registered, so that Kiran could look after her mother’s affairs, when the dementia became too bad for her mother to make decisions on her own.
Next, working with the care home, we negotiated a price for the accommodation and care costs for Kiran’s mother for the estimated length of her residency. Once the cost was known, we were then able to buy a special annuity, with the proceeds of the mother’s investments, which was sufficient to meet the cost of the care home fees for the rest of her life, regardless of how long she survived.
This took a great worry away from Kiran and allowed her focus on spending quality time with her mother, rather worrying about how the fees were going to be paid.