Hi,
Firstly, thank you for your wonderfully informative website. I have reviewed previous forum topics but couldn’t quite find what I was looking for.
We are looking at options for my wife’s grandparents to go in to aged care, they are both 92. They have completed their ACAT and both have been assesed as full time care required, we are now trying to work out the best finance option for them.They have a family home worth approx $700k and no other savings, they would sell the home to fund the RAD. The aged care home we are looking at has said they will provide a RAD of $250k each for them to enter as a couple.
From my research, we have 2 options; 1) Sell the home and pay the full RAD for both of them, leaving approx. $200 in surplus cash, or 2) have one of them enter first as a supported person and then shortly after have the second enter and pay the full RAD. I have aslo heard that by doing option 2, the supported person will have to contribute up to $350k once they sell their family home?
Can you please advise what payments would be required for both scenarios, assuming the family home sells and settle 6 months after they enter the aged care facility.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Hi mjlechte,
Thank you for your question. The good news is there is no rule that says you have to sell your grandmother’s house. Sometimes people have to sell the family home as the family need the funds from the family home to pay for aged care. When someone moves into an aged care home, there are 3 - 4 fees that need to be paid. You can read about them here:
What are the basic aged care fees? | agedcare101
If you keep the family home it will affect the means-tested fee. This fee will be different for everyone and is worked out based on the wealth of the person going into care (your grandmother). This is calculated by completing the Income and Assets Assessment which can be found here:
https://www.agedcare101.com.au/aged-care/working-out-your-finances/the-income-and-assets-test
The house is an asset of your grandmother. The good news is the value of the house is exempted from the Income and Assets test for 2 years which helps to keep this cos first 2 years. After 2 years, the house is seen as an asset and is assessed up to a capped value which I believe is $166,707.20.If you sell your grandmothers house, then the total amount of that will be included in the Income and Assets test and therefore her means-tested fee may be higher. These are big decisions and it can really pay to get personalised financial guidance. We really recommend that you and your family seek the guidance of an Aged Care Financial Advisor. It is their job to know every nuance of the system and provide guidance for the best result.
We hope this helps,
the agedcare101 team
Hi everybody!
My grandmother has just come out of hospital and is starting to get dementia. I believe my family is starting to look into aged care for her. She owns the house that she lives in and is by herself as my grandfather passed away 6 years ago. As she is still alive and responsive, do you definitely have to sell the house? What are the requirements/downfalls of keeping the house vs selling it?
Hi Brett,
Thank you for your kind words about the site. It was our mission to supply easy to understand, no nonsense information about the aging journey.
We needed a bit of outside help on this one so we called on the advice of Robert Craven from Affinity Aged Care Financial Services.
The strategy you outlined being one parent supported and the other parent a RAD payer, may well be the best option prior to the sale of the home but may not achieve the best financial outcome after the home has been sold. If their only asset is the $700k home, the first parent to enter the facility will be (should be) assessed as fully supported & their only fee should be the Basic Daily Care Fee - currently $50.16 per day.
When the partner subsequently enters care, the supported resident will be required to pay a Daily Accommodation Contribution (DAC) and a Means Tested Care Fee. The required DAC will depend on the status of the facility. If it has been certified as new or siAC will be $56.15 per day reduced by 25% if there are less than 40% supported residents in the facility. If it hasnt been certified as new or significantly refurbished the DAC will be $36.59 per day, again reduced by 25% if there are less than 40% supported residents in the facility.
If they enter care on the same day, they will both be assessed as non-supported & will both be required to pay the RAD, or the DAP until the home has been sold and the RAD paid. Then, the amount paid will impact their age pensions!!!
Our advice is absolutely contact a Specialist Aged Care Financial Adviser who will help you and them work through the system with the best outcome.
We hope this helped.