Hi there. My dad passed away over 2 years ago and I am an only child and I have been receiving the carers allowance and pension for about 6 months now. I am separated and renting a home which 2 of my children live in whilst I am back and forth living and caring for my mum, I have now just about run out of money paying rent and Mum needs me there more. So my children are going to move in also with my mum. My question is what will happen to us if mum need to then move into an aged care facility. Will we need to sell her home and move out. It’s very daunting as I have to think about me and my children as well as my mum. finding mum an aged care facility cleaning out her home and finding somewhere else to move to.
Hi there,
Thanks for your question. Know that you’re not alone in finding this difficult, both emotionally and practically. Finance is always a really tricky part of the journey as it is very complex and different for everyone. The strongest advise we can say is that we really advise that you work closely with a Financial Advisor who specialises in Aged Care. The first thing to work out is if you a “protected person” in the eyes of the government. There are strict rules about who classifies as a protected person and who doesn’t. If you are classified “protected person” then you may be able to continue to live in your mum’s home and it won’t need to be sold to pay for her aged care costs. This is because her house would not be classified as an assessable asset. If you mum’s home is your mum’s main asset, then this might mean that she moves into an aged care home as a government-supported resident and the government would cover a lot of the costs. Naturally, there is a lot of assessing and paperwork to be filled out with the government and one of the first things you will have to do is have your mum have an ACAT assessment and then next fill out the Combined Income and Assets form. Remember, you are assessing the income and assets your mum has (being the person going into care) not yours. The Department of Human Services has a helpline for financial related questions. It is 1800 227 475. This is different from the My Aged Care call centre which is more general questions about the aged care system. I would call the Department of Human Serving some research which will mean you don’t need to provide name, Medicare number etc. They will be able to tell you if your situation classifies as a ‘protected person’. We hope this helps, the agedcare101 team.