My Mum and Dad have declined together one has Parkinsons and the other has Ovarian Cancer they will need to go into care at the same time.
They have $320,000 in cash and own their own home $350,000 is current market value.
We have a placement for them in a financial shared room. Shared rooms are hard to get for this situation. We are worried that they cant afford it.
They have had their financial assessment done.
For Each Person
The Daily Rate is $51.21
The DAP: $53.00
The Means Test is $7.21
Extra Fee is $25.00
Their Extra Expenses are $38.00 HBF; Personal Care; Specialist Fees; Spending
Their Pension will increase to $822.20 each.
My question is if they go into together at the same time will their home be included in the assessment and will the amount of pension they receive go down and do you think they would be better to pay a combination of RAD and DAP. Or just pay the DAP. Thank you
Hi Kangas2019,
We are not able to give financial advice but can give you an over view of aged care fees. You can read about it further on this website. One of the biggest decisions people have to make when moving into residential aged care is whether or not to sell the family home to pay the fees. Some people decide to sell the family home and pay the RAD in full or if the RAD is relatively small and you have savings or can pay a good part of the RAD then they may choose to keep the family home, rent it out and put the rental payments towards an accommodation fee. Others may use other assets to pay towards the RAD. If you sell the family home the sale may impact on the means tested fees and possibly the pension which is why some people choose to keep the home which is assessed at the capped value of $168,351.20 (as at March 2019) or the net market value if lower. Each member of a couple is seen as equally owning half of the net market value of the home. The cap is applied to each half or the net value of each member of the couple’s part of the home, whichever is lower. For pension purposes the family home has a two year asset exemption but any rent will be included in the means tested assessment. The RAD is exempt for pension purposes but is assessable on the aged care means tested fee. The RAD is fully refundable when a person moves out of care whilst a DAP is not which is why some people choose to pay a lump sum (RAD) or a combination of both depending on their circumstances. Because there are a few different payment options for aged care fees and because everyone’s situation is different we always strongly recommend that you seek specialist financial advice to ensure that your parents make the right decisions to maximize their finances and give them the best foundation to pay future fees. Or you can call the Income and Assets Division of the Department Human Services on 1800 227 475 and discuss with them.
Reg