Ask
about
aged care placement
Our
Placement Team will:
* Help you to select the best residential care option
*
Arrange inspection of aged care homes in your preferred times
* Negotiate
the accommodation bond and extra service fees.
We receive valuable feedback about aged care homes from families that we have
placed in the past. We combine their observations and feedback about the homes
with current available vacancies, and your own unique family requirements, so
that we are able to find you the best solution, in the shortest time frame.
We can make the transition from the family home to residential care a more positive
experience.
reviewed
5th Sept 2010
|
 |
|
Nursing
Homes remain a grey area for many
NOT many people admit that they like
getting old. Fewer still are happy about entering a nursing home.
More people than ever are moving into care and their retirement income and life
savings are also being locked up along with them.
Entering aged care is a tricky area of law with legislation often changing or being reviewed.
When going into care, an elderly person, who might be frail and not
as quick minded as they used to be, faces complex legal structures. There are
residential agreements to be assessed and accommodation bond agreements to be
understood.
But the first step for a potential resident to consider
is whether the care provider can ask for an accommodation bond. Accommodation
bonds are based on assets the person has.
Typically, the assets have
to be cashed in and the money held in trust while the person is in the home. This
can lock up the money for many years.
The assets include things such
as property, shares, household contents and personal items. (The value of household
contents and some personal items is set at $5000 in the absence of any formal
valuation.)
Interest earned on the money held as a bond goes to the
aged care provider as well as fees of about $3000 a year.
Respite residents
and people who have assets valued at less than two and a half times the annual
single age pension - about $33,000 - do not have to pay a bond.
Residents
in financial hardship and those who have not paid a bond within 21 days of moving
in, or have gone to an uncertified facility, also do not have to pay a bond.
Generally, the amount of bond is negotiated between the resident and the
provider. Providers can charge whatever bond they like provided the resident is
left with assets of at least two and a half times the annual pension. Again, about
$33,000.
The bond can be paid as a lump sum or periodic payment.
But the aged care provider must be able to show they have sufficient ongoing
ability to repay the bond if the resident leaves at any time.
The provider
must also keep a written liquidity statement, maintain a bond register and information
on their financial position.
AGE PENSION
aged care might affect a pension because of asset or income changes. If a resident
pays an accommodation bond when entering a home, the refundable amount of the
bond is not counted under the pension assets test.
A person's home is
also not counted as an asset toward the bond or for social security for two years
after entering care while their partner still lives in the home or while they
receive high level of care. -
Source: Katherine Towers is the YourMoney
legal writer.
|
|
|
|
