Hi,
I’ve had ms for about 15 years, progressing slowly to the point where OT’s and other’s have mentioned that residential care may be a need for my care in future. My wife and family have been supportive over the years, and this decision would be upsetting for them, but I can’t imagine having to be assisted by the most important people in my life! One of the things to consider is what would happen about funding for care, we own our house, would we be forced to sell to fund this care?
Sorry its a bit of a garbled message, trying to get some info.
Thanks,
Rob
I have had MS for ~14 years. My wife provides all of my care, she is an Optometrist. Unfortunately, I cannot provide the information that you are looking for but I will keep ‘an eye’ on any responses that you may get and also for any ‘solutions’ to your query. MS sucks! Good luck in your quest.
Marcus.
Sorry to hear about your situation.
My understanding is that while your spouse survives you, you would not be forced to sell the house to fund care.
However to make sure I would contact the MS Helpline 0808 800 8000, they would definitely know what they are talking about.
All the best
I would def get professional advice.My parents live a distance away and due to my work on call I couldnt be there when my mom had to go into care.
They own their bungalow and at the time of going into care she needed more social care than nursing.She was blind,frail always trying to get up and wandering but then falling and continence issues were a nightmare as she would pull out catheters and remove pads.
Due to this there were high care fees that social services would only part fund but it was impossible for her to remain at home. My dad lost most of his savings with what he had to pay but won the battle about selling the house—they did try to get him to. When she was reassessed three years on as needing nursing care then he never had to pay again.
I dont know if he had a raw deal or if this is the norm and I dont want to distress you in any way it is just what happened to us.This was over the last 5 yrs and he lives in Somerset.
This is why I would advise looking into your options and getting expert advice before getting to crisis point so at least you can make informed choices.
I wish you and your wife well.
Pip
Have you thought about talking to a financial advisor with experience of long-term care funding? It is likely that, the further in advance you think about these things, the more scope there is to do some meaningful planning - for instance, thinking about who owns the family home etc.
I would bet on it getting harder and harder to ringfence personal wealth (houses in particular) as time goes on and the cost of care for the disabled/infirm/elderly grows. The papers are full of talk of all parties taking a harder look at wealth as opposed to income, and I think we can all see the way the wind is blowing. Good for you, taking a good hard look at how you can protect your family if you do need residential care at some time in the future.
Alison
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