# Fair deal nursing home scheme



## mcriot29 (9 Mar 2017)

Hey quick question,my mother gifted her house to me 6 years ago so my name is on papers only.
But there was a part put in that says she is allowed stay in the house till she dies,she now has dementia and if I do have to apply for the fair deal in future will they want the house since its in my name only now thanks .


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## Slim (10 Mar 2017)

No. It should be OK if she has a right of residence. The house will not be assessed as hers once 5 years has elapsed between the transfer and the application.


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## bellaboots (4 Jul 2017)

hi can someone answer these questions as i cant find answers any where online ......mam is in a care home 5 months we have been paying privately on the basis of what her house is valued at she has no savings .......the house at the moment is been sold does the 3 year cap apply on the money from the house if not is there any more due after the 3 years plus she wants to gift half the sale price between me and my 3 brothers .....the house value is 230k .......thanks in advance for any help


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## Marsha25 (4 Jul 2017)

Hi. I assume by you saying she is paying privately that she is still availing of the fair deal.  As far as I understand from our own case, when she sells her house the proceeds, when reassessed, will be seen as savings.  They will then be taken into account for the next assessment in 3 years.  Even if she gives you all the money it won't fall within the 5 year timeframe.   Our parents house was sold when remaining parent was in the nursing home. There wasn't enough savings to cover the payments. However we knew he wouldn't live a further 3 years. Your best bet is to contact the person in fair deal who dealt with your application but to my knowledge the house proceeds will be taken into account.


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## bellaboots (4 Jul 2017)

thanks for ur reply .......yes we are availing of the fair deal but do we not have to tell them when the house is sold


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## Marsha25 (4 Jul 2017)

If you haven't used the fair deal loan scheme, then I don't see why. We didn't. At the end of the 3 years if dad had been alive the funds from the house would then have been seen as savings, so it was going to be worse financially to do it that way if he had lived. But there wasn't much choice when his own savings were dwindling.  I can't imagine how people pay when their houses are worth a fair bit.  Again this was our understanding of the situation. His nursing home bills stopped the day he died and there was no further liability.


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## bellaboots (4 Jul 2017)

thanks again


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## cremeegg (4 Jul 2017)

I think you may be getting into serious trouble here. Most people in the fair deal scheme find that it is a serious disadvantage to sell their house.

Under the fair deal scheme a % of the value of the house is counted as income each year for 3 years only. If you sell the house, then it becomes cash, which is counted as income for as long as the person lives. 

Gifts are within 5 years are counted as being assets of the giver.


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## valery (4 Jul 2017)

Agree with Cremeegg  Review your options very carefully. 
If your mother sells her house, she  will have to pay 7.5% of the proceeds every year towards her care.  The 7.5% deductions will continue until the balance is down to €36,000.  She is allowed keep that.

If she keeps the house, she will contribute 22.5% of its value i.e. 7.5% for 3 years.


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## bellaboots (4 Jul 2017)

unfortunately she doesnt have a choice and needs to sell it .


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## Slim (4 Jul 2017)

As pointed out above, once the house is sold, 7.5% of the sale price will be chargeable every year until she dies or the cash savings reaches 36k. That's €17,250 per year plus 80% of any pension she receives. The gift to your brothers and you will be disregarded and this will cause a cash problem in a few years. Food for thought!


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## twofor1 (4 Jul 2017)

bellaboots said:


> unfortunately she doesnt have a choice and needs to sell it .



Rather than sell the house why not avail of the Nursing Home Loan, you can apply at initial application date or at any later stage, that would be €17K annually that the family would not have find for the next 2.5 years, thereafter the house would be disregarded from her financial assessment.

As your Mam has no savings, if she went for the loan, all she would ever have to pay even if she lived forever would be 80% of whatever income she has.

As almost 6 months is already paid, the maximum that would ever have to be repaid when your Mam does pass would be €36K, that's with the disregard taken off the house,  the remaining amount from the house sale would go to her estate.

See page 8 here;

[broken link removed]


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## bellaboots (4 Jul 2017)

thanks for all the replies .......if the house is not sold it will literally fall down it is in bad need of repairs and is idle now since my dad passed 18 months ago which had left mam in financial difficulty and debt .... this seemed the only option we could take


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