Fair Deal/Nursing Homes What happens if all assets not declared

[Kittykat]

Fil has dementia. Mil is living. There is no enduring power of attorney. We are applying for fair deal scheme. Mil is trying to gather financial information but is getting very fussed.... she thinks she has gathered everything (am I right in saying its all accounts both sole and joint?) What happens if she erroneously misses an account and its not included on the application.... ie if we discover something in time to come after scheme approved etc thank you.

 

[twofor1]

Mil is trying to gather financial information but is getting very fussed.... she thinks she has gathered everything (am I right in saying its all accounts both sole and joint?)
What happens if she erroneously misses an account and its not included on the application.... ie if we discover something in time to come after scheme approved etc thank you.

Yes you must declare all accounts sole and joint, same applies to any other assets, sole and joint.

If your Mil erroneously misses an account, it would be considered a misstatement.

‘’In cases where a person does not disclose or makes a misstatement in respect of the amount or value of income/assets and receives a greater amount of State support than would have been the case if there had been disclosure or no misstatement, the overpayment must be repaid by the person on demand and may be recovered by the HSE as a simple contract debt from the person or estate of that person.’’

Towards the bottom of page 6 on the application form;
https://www2.hse.ie/file-library/fair-deal/nursing-home-support-scheme-application-form.pdf

 

[Kittykat]

Thank you. I'm just concerned if accounts or assets come to light in later years that we dont know about now. Mil very scatty and unorganised but is getting irritated if we ask can we help search or go through boxes of paperwork etc

 

[twofor1]

All your Mil can do is her best. Same for you, if Mil won’t let you help, there is not much you can do. If accounts or other assets surface at a later stage, they can be dealt with then.

It is often only when it comes to probate, that proper searches can be done and long forgotten about accounts / assets frequently turn up.

The HSE has previously said that 25% of Fair Deal applicants who since passed away had under declared their assets, some anyway are honest mistakes rather than deliberate non disclosure.