I share a home with one adult child who owns 25% , with most of it mortgaged. This is documented by a solicitor, on the title deeds and Centrelink are aware of the situation.
They have a non pensionable disability and are in receipt of a carers allowence for help they give me.
If i move into a nursing home what would be the situation regarding costs for me please. ? Are we forced to sell the house to realise my asset.? That would leave not enough for the adult child to manage the purchase of anything by themselves. I believe it would be difficult to rent part of the house for other reasons so the rent of my part cannot be used to pay my fees . Because of the disablity the adult child will never make more than a very ordinary living and it has so far been a very precarious one with some lengthy time unemployed. This person is my only child and will inherit whatever is left . We have shared the house for 5 years with the mortgage running that long.
it was suggested to me that i can gift my part of the house and then ensure i am housed under the “granny flat” rule…?
the house cannot have part turned into a granny flat now or ever even tho it separates out nicely for our purposes.
we do not have cash assets to pay a bond interest and the adult child would not be in a position to pay it from their wages the way things look. i have been told that they can refuse to sell and that this would make it so that i was deemed to have less assets.
i am totally confused and think I was given bad information when this house was bought together
What would the options be please…I want to protect my interests of course and have a decent nursing home. At the same time I want to give this adult the best i can that is legal and realistic, taking into account their particular needs that do not meet the criteria for Disability Pension but make working difficult. I would not ask them to become a full time carer to enable the house not to be counted as an asset for me as i think it is more important, longer term, for a job to be kept externally
Thank you for the reply.
I will have chat to the FIS people initially and then probably contact Affinity
I am in recipt of a full pension
It is complicated!!
Hi Ditzy,
The team from Affinity Aged Care have worked through your complex situation, breaking it down and provided advice where possible. I hope this helps to shed light on your situation “If i move into a nursing home what would be the situation regarding costs for me please.”. If your share of the home is valued at more at $162,087.20 currently you will be asked to pay an accommodation payment either lump sum, regular payments or a combination of both as well as a basic daily care fee currently $49.07 per day as well as an means tested care fee which is your co-contribution to care and is determined by your assets and income. Depending on the aged care facility you choose you may also be asked to pay an additional or extra service “Are we forced to sell the house to realise my asset? That would leave not enough for the adult child to manage the purchase of anything by themselves. I believe it would be difficult to rent part of the house for other reasons so the rent of my part cannot be used to pay my fees. Because of the disability the adult child will never make more than a very ordinary living and it has so far been a very precarious one with some lengthy time unemployed. This person is my only child and will inherit whatever is left. We have shared the house for 5 years with the mortgage running that. You could apply to Centrelink to have the home assessed as a unrealisable asset by virtue of the fact there is you and your child on the title and therefore the property is not a saleable because you child will still continue to live in the family home and also he refuses to sell their share. “It was suggested to me that I can gift my part of the house and then ensure I am housed under the “granny flat” rule…?”
you haven’t mentioned if you are in receipt of a Centrelink Income Support Payment. Under Centrelink rules you are only allowed to gift $10,000 per financial year or $30,000 over a rolling 5 year period. Any gifts in excess of these amounts are considered deprived assets for 5 years from the date of the gift. These excess gifts are assessed for Centrelink pension entitlements and the means tested care fee in aged care. A granny flat or accommodation for life arrangement is more complex and I recommend you get financial and legal advice before acting (see my comment “The house cannot have part turned into a granny flat now or ever even tho it separates out nicely or our purposes.”) It is not necessary to do so but you need to seek specialist advice firs"We do not have cash assets to pay a bond interest and the adult child would not be in a position to pay it from their wages the way things look. I have been told that they can refuse to sell and that this would make it so that I was deemed to have less assets.”
see my comment above regarding unrealisable asset “I am totally confused and think I was given bad information when this house was bought together.”
you have raised some very important questions in what is a complex system. Therefore I strongly urge you to get specialist aged care financial advice before making any firm decisions so all the options are discussed to help you make an informed decision. A misstep can prove disastrous. If you are in Sydney or Brisbane then Affinity Aged Care can assist by calling 1300 366 932 or you can view Aged Care Gurus or Aged Care Steps websites for specialist advisers in other areas of Australia.
thanks and good luck,
The Agedcare101 Team
I have received some information from Centrelink staff who do the actual assessment when one enters a nursing home.In the absence of any other info I will visit one of their financial advisors for a bit more
Hi Ditzy,I have passed your question onto our expert adviser at Affinity Aged Care Financial Advisers and will get back to you with an answer as soon as possible.RegardsJill
