Blog 7: Families hide their wealth to avoid care home costs

Many families are hiding the wealth of their parents in order to avoid paying the pricy costs of homecare or nursing homes.  Hiding how much these families really own is illegal.  The council in these countries are left picking up the rest of the cost for home care or nursing homes.  In some countries like Wales and Scotland, this type of personal care is provided at no charge.  Families are purposely not disclosing this financial information to save money and protect their own inheritance.  Conflict is arising over whether the government or the family should be paying for the personal care of the elderly.  There are also inconsistencies within the local authorities and the government with regards to how they handle these situations.

There are inconsistencies across the globe with regards to healthcare and who will provide the funds to cover these expenses.  In some places the family is expected to cover the expenses of homecare or nursing home facilities in addition to other costs.  In other places the government pays for some of the costs.  There definitely needs to be more consistency between the local authorities and the government with regards to funding.  What does it say about the world when people are hiding their funds in order to get more financial support from the government.  Perhaps the costs for homecare and other facilities are too high in the first place, or the government should step in and provide more assistance.  It puts a financial strain on middle age adults who are having to care for their children and also their parents.  How is it that some countries provide these services at no cost to citizens, and other countries provide very limited assistance.  It is wrong that people are taking advantage of the system, but I think this just shows how bad the system really is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17147047