Impact on couples when one goes into a nursing home

Hi Vicki A,
To be a protected person with regards to the family home being exempt from the Income and Assets test you must have been drawing the carers pension for the last two years prior to your husband entering the aged care home. So hopefully you have been receiving this payment which will make your family home exempt. However once you sell the family home the proceeds will be included in the assets and income test. With regards to superannuation according to the Dept Human Services website at this link below: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/enablers/assets/30621 It states that “if you are under Age pension age your superannuation investments don’t count in the Income and Assets tests. This is the same for your partner if they are under pension age. Once you reach Age Pension Age your superannuation investments will count in the income and assets tests. This is whether you get age pension or another payment.” This government link below explains what is considered “hardship” with regards to aged care fees. Aged care | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care Aged Care 101 is a directory and information website. We are not allowed to give financial advice. Due to the various complexities associated with aged care fees and the individual nature of people’s finances we always recommend that people get specialist aged care financial advice. Regards Jill

Hi Jodie,Just because your father pays a RAD does not mean your mother has to do the same. People’s financial situation can change over a period of time which will potentially impact on the fees your mother pays when the time comes for her to enter aged care. Apart from paying a lump sum (RAD) there is also the option of paying a DAP or a combination of RAD and DAP.If your mother chooses to pay the RAD as well it is possible that she may pay a lesser amount if she shares a room with your father . This is worth discussing with the aged care home.RegardsJill

Hi Sofidobbs,I am assuming that your father did not pay a DAC because he paid the RAD. In this case he does not have to pay a DAC regardless of whether your mother is at the aged care home or not.RegardsJill

ArthritisI read an article saying no but I cant find it again about a person with very similar circumstances to myself I am 59 years of age I am a full time Carer for my husband who is 68… he is currently spending a couple of weeks in a age care home while I have some respite. He has been assessed as high care and approved for this type of respite accommodation as well as approved for permanent residential accommodation. We have some services in place at home with Physio cleaning and some social support. He has been approved for a Homecare package level three but of course hes on the waiting list.My inquiry comes more in relation to the protected person as I do understand that I would be a protected person in this circumstance in regard to our family home not being assessable I just cant find the information on what the asset limits were outside this Im sure that at the time I thought that he would qualify for a fully supported position without havurrent assets are below 50,000 on top of our family home however I have not accessed my superannuation in any form which I think its about between 150 and 180,000. I am not wanting to touch my superannuation until I need it for something major outside our savings in your bank account or preferably not accessing any of it until I reach pension age.What I am not sure of is if my superannuation would come into part of an asset test if I had reached pension age. I am also unsure of what financial stability on a weekly basis that I would be able to attain after losing a carers pension. I gave up work only a few years ago and have quite a skill set however I have also been diagnosed and have rheumatoid arthritis And some other mental health issues with depression and anxiety which I take medication for. After being a Carer for 13 years and a full time Carer for the last 2 years and given my age and opportunity for employment it is a concern with a 7 year gap to agam unclear on is:if I am able to keep caring for my husband until I reach pension age and dont access my superannuation which hopefully might be about $200,ooo by then. Will that be classed as an asset and therefore be over the threshold that would allow him to be assessed as a person of financial hardship.or would it be better if he was to enter full time care before I reached pension age?it may not become a choice as it depends on how quickly his dementia progresses.he has advanced Parkinsons 13 years since diagnosed the onset of dementia began 2 years ago he has already been assessed as high careit really just depends on how his condition can be managed at home and whether I can get his home care packa

Hi my dad has dementia and went to a nursing and didnt pay DAP, mum was still home. 3 weeks later mum went in and pays DAP, when mum passes will dad need to pay the D

HiMy dad has dementia and went in the nursing home 1st and mum was still home, dad didnt need to pay DAC, 3 weeks later mum went in and she pays DAC. Will dad need to pay DAC if mum

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Hello, my dads going into care, and my mum will go in later to the same home, do they both pay a rad, thanks jodie

Hi Verena,Thank you for your question.www.agedcare101.com.au is an educational website aimed to help people navigate the world of aged care.Our mission is to help make the steps required for someone going into aged care as simple as possible. We also saw the importance of creating a directory including every single aged care home in Australia - so research and decisions could be made.Financial questions are unique and complicated and legally we cannot offer financial advice. We do whole heartily understand the importance of receiving the right financial advice and we strongly recommend seeking guidance from a financial advisor that specialises in the finances of Aged Care.There are 2 main ones in Australia and they are:Affinity Aged CareFinancialServicesSydney Aged Care Financial AdvisorsBoth of these companies services clients nationally.I hope this he

Hi I would like to get some more information about what happends to my parents indivitual pension if one of them has to go into aged care.Does the pension amount change for one of them only or for both of them ?If one or both of their pension change, do they have to apply through Centrelink to get the pension changed or does the pension change automatically?Do they need to open up a seperate/new account for the person who does enter aged care?What are the payment option to the Aged Care Provider? Direct Debit or Centrepay? How does Centrepay work?Sorry so many questions.Thanks

Hi Celder,Thank you for your question. Broadly speaking, if your parents house is sold and your mum buys a smaller more manageable home, then the value of her new home is excluded from the Assets and Income Test. It should be known that the profit that is made from the larger home to the smaller home would indeed be included as an asset and would be assessed accordingly. This extra asset may alter the age pension status, if either your mother or father is receiving that.Given this is quite a big decision we would advise consulting with a Financial Advisor that specialises in Aged Care. They are in the position to advise based on your every financial detail.We hope

Hi Lozzaj, Thanks for your question. It sounds like you may qualify as a Protected Person. The Department of Human Affairs says: For aged care purposes, a protected person is: your partner or dependent child, or your carer* who is eligible to receive an Australian Government income support payment and who has lived in your home with you for the past 2 years, or your close relation who is eligible to receive an Australian Government income support payment and who has lived in your home with you for the past 5 years. If your home is occupied by a protected person at the relevant date, it will not be counted as an asset for permanent residential aged care purposes. Your carer or close relation will need to give their consent in the form to enable the Department of Human Services or the Department of Veterans Affairs to verify their eligibility for an income support payment. If you are seen as a Protected Person the home of your mother-in-law will not be seen as an assessable asset and you should be able to continue to live there. You will need to get an Assets and Income Assessment done to know what fees you will need to pay. You can download the form from the below page: How do I complete an income and assets test? | agedcare101 You can use our calculator as a rough guide. Aged Care Fee Estimator | agedcare101 We hope this helps, the agedcare101 team

Hi we have a situation with my mother in law whom we have had to take into our care as my father in law could no longer keep up so they are living separately by choice. They sold their home and now she own the home we are living in and taking care of her, although we have a 100k investment plus upgrades in the home. We are not on the title. They have together about $400k in investments which I would assume would take them over the threshold, I might just add that half of the $400k is in a special fund that was brought by the government, a special super fund and the goverment quickly stopped it, as they were loosing too much money. Both the in laws receive full pension.so a couple of things1 . would we loose her home if she had to go into the nursing home if we cold no longer take care of her?2. What would she have to pay? The RAD?3. If the case is the home would have to be sold…if we somehow get our names on the title would that stop it having to be sold?We dont want to loose what we have invethe home plus all our years of care and caretaking and cost of the home.

Hii have a question in relation to my parents current situation. My father may have to go into a nursing home and my mother is able to continue living in the family home With the intention of selling And repurchasing A more manageable home. What is the financial implication Of this for both of them? Also assets outside the home would be less than $150,000. Than

Hi David,
Firstly, let us apologies for not replying to your post earlier. We somehow missed it in our system.
The biggest piece of news we can tell you is if your mum is still living in the family home, their house is seen as a protected asset and will not be included in the Income and Asset assessment with Centrelink. This means that when they look at your parents assets, depending on their other assets (excluding the house) then your father may qualify for a DAC which is where the government will contribute to his accommodation costs. The first thing I would do is to call the Department of Human Services special sub division that looks after Income and Assets for aged care. The number is 1800 227 475. You can call on behalf of your parents saying that youre gathering information to assist them. If you do this, you dont need to create a record or an account with the call centre if you dont want to.
Next, whilst it seems like an expenpeak with a Financial Advisor who specialises in Aged Care. Their breadth of knowledge is amazing and are able to provide more customised advice about your parents specific finances. The Aged Care system - especially the finance side of things - is extremely complex and it pays to speak to the finance experts.
We hope this helps and again sorry for the delayed response.the ag

Hi There,Thank you all for your information, i can relate with you this community how hard it is to find the best care for parents needing nursing or retirement homes.I have couple of questions I would like to ask.(1) My dad is in a situation where he may need nursing home care due to his mobility decreasing very fast. As such he may be required to move into a home very soon. My mum and dad’s home valued about $360K-$400K and form researching various web sites, I am aware he may need to pay aRefundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) of half the value of their assets. As mum is the primary carer for dad presently, will she need to sell the house and move elsewhere?(2) Another option was to find them a care facility to be together, in this instance will they need to sell the house and split the asset to fund the Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD)(3) Is there a way to protect the asset by selling the property and putting the money or transferring the property to a trust?In all 3 situations canlet me know what the effect onDaily Accommodation Contribution (DAC) will be?Many Thanks D

Hi Rhonda,
Thanks for contacting us. Were sorry about the slight delay in replying. We wanted to be sure we were supplying you with the correct information. Robert Craven from Affinity Aged Care Financial Services was able to help us with the following information.
Based on the information provided, your mother will be assessed as a fully supported resident. Consequently, the only fee she will be required to pay when she moves to the aged care facility will be the Basic Daily Care Fee - currently $49.42 per day.
When your mother becomes a permanent resident, she can expect her age pensions to increase from $674.20 per fortnight each to $894.40 per fortnight each. However, if your father is currently receiving a Carer Allowance, he will need to cancel this when your mother transitions to permanent residential care. The pensions will still be paid into their joint account and the facility will deduct their fees (such as the Basic Daily Care Fee) from this acential aged care, your father must have an ACAT assessment. If he hasnt yet, he will need to arrange one by calling MyAgedCare 1800 200 422.
If/when your father moves to an aged care facility, on the information provided, he would also be assessed as a fully supported resident. Consequently, he would only be required to pay the Basic Daily Care Fee of $49.42 per day.
Could they move in together? This would depend on the ACAT being completed and the availability of a bed at the chosen facility. They should discuss this with the facility manager.
We hope thi

Thought I would keep this on topic, My elderly mother is currently in hospital and we have been told that they will (Doctors) arrange a nursing home near my dad, my dad has been her carer for many years now but I would like some advice please.My parents currently rent and do not own property, they have around $50k in savings together, if mum goes to a nursing home we are worried that my dad will not be able to afford to continue to rent and stay where he is, even though I have read in the forum here that he will get more because of seperation due to illness, what will happen to my mothers pension! will that still go into their joint account.Also my dad also has health problems and would like to be able to place him with my mum when the time comes, how hard would this be or could this be done at the same time, he is 85 and still slighty independant but has copd and has had a few hospital stays this year, any advise would be most appreciated.Regards Rhonda

Hi Cazz,
Sorry for the slight delay in replying. We wanted to be sure we were providing you with the right information. Robert Craven from Affinity Aged Care Financial Services had the following insight.
Whilever the mother continues to live in the home, she will be considered a protected person. With other combined assets of $150,000, the Department of Human Services will assess her fathers share at $75,000. Under this scenario, he would be considered a partially-supported resident. He would not be required to pay a Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) and his fees would be the Basic Daily Care Fee (currently $49.42 per day) and a Daily Accommodation Contribution (DAC) of circa $13.22 per day. He would not be required to pay a Means Tested Care fee.
If your mother sold the home, moved to a Retirement Village and deposited the residual sales proceeds in their bank account, her husbands DAC would increase and it may adversy recommend that your mother seeks advice from a specialist aged care financial adviser before moving to a retirement village as the adviser may well be able to arrange a scenario that would result in a significantly improved outcome.
We hope that helps.
The agedcare101 team.

My father is needing to go into high care. My mother still lives in the family home. The home value is around 750k. Their combined assets at this time is around $150k. This clearly is not enough to the RAD amount. I have been told that mum cannot be forced to sell the home. Who would pay this to get dad into a home. We are also thinking if mum was to sell the home say in 4 months time after dad is settled and move into a retirement villagethere would be a sum around 300k from the same. Would my mother be asked