Volume 6 Edition 5 Financial Care Services Newsletter

Permalink:http://www.financialcareservices.com.au/newsletters/financial-care-services-newsletter-3/

FINANCIAL CARE SERVICES NEWSLETTER
Independent aged care, lifestyle and financial advice for seniors
Volume 6 Edition 5 – 31 May 2016

Hello

A granny flat arrangement might be an option when living alone is no longer smart.

A granny flat arrangement might be an option when living alone is no longer smart.
A granny flat arrangement allows for a senior to live in accommodation provided by another person.
For example, a senior might live in a self-contained apartment owned by her daughter. Initially the senior might do her own housework including cooking her own meals, and drive her own car. But later the senior might become physically frail and/or mentally unreliable and need help with domestic duties and personal care.

Increased electricity bills are a common result of adding a senior to an existing household or providing her with a new home. Setting a formula for how the granny flat resident is going to contribute to her basic living costs might limit the potential for household dramas regarding utility bills and food expenses. Read more about granny flat residents contributing to regular household expenses.

Once the granny flat resident has sold her former home and handed over a large lump sum to her granny flat hosts, she could come under the Centrelink ‘granny flat arrangement’ rules. The Centrelink Asset Test treatment of granny flat arrangements is complex.
In contrast, Centrelink simply treat the ingoing lump sum payment for a granny flat arrangement as a ‘gift’ to the hosts if the granny flat arrangement terminates within five years. Read more about granny flat ingoing lump sums.

The financial aspects of any granny flat arrangement need careful consideration and documentation to minimise the risk of misunderstandings later. Discussion of possible exit scenarios at the outset could avoid a financial disaster for the potential granny flat resident and her hosts, if the host’s work requires the family to move interstate or overseas. Read more about granny flat agreements

Granny flat arrangements can work really well if carefully planned and documented by people of goodwill. Read more about exiting granny flat arrangments before you enter a granny flat arrangement.

Regrettably some seniors drift into granny flat arrangements that degenerate into financial abuse of the senior. Seniors Rights can help when the granny flat arrangement is wrong.

Christine at Financial Care Services works with families to clarify their granny flat arrangement and consider the Centrelink implications of the proposal. Read about Centrelink Pensions for granny flat residents.

The exit provisions are included in any granny flat discussion to ensure that funds could be available for residential aged care if the senior suffered such a serious medical mishap as to require high level nursing care.

Contact Christine at Financial Care Services to arrange for a granny flat consultation. You will receive the Financial Care Services’ Financial Services Guide and the Financial Care Services Granny Flat Arrangement Personal Financial Facts form.

Financial Care Services is an independent financial advisory service specialising in retirees of modest means and aged care entrants. Our core values of working with clients in their lifetime financial planning supports claiming DVA and Centrelink entitlements.

Financial Care Services charges fees based on the work involved in advising you about pensions and aged care financial solutions and arranging your investments.
___________________________________________________

Christine Hopper

Director

Director
Financial Care Services Pty Ltd
Independent aged care, lifestyle and financial advice for seniors in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Australian Financial Services Licence Number
299570 (check this at www.search.asic.gov.au/fsr/flb.html)
Authorised Representative Number
252529 (check this at www.search.asic.gov.au/fsr/far.html)

Telephone – call +61 3 9808 0338
Email – contact info@financialcareservices.com.au
Address – mail or meet at 2B Thomas Street, Camberwell Victoria 3124
Website – visit www.financialcareservices.com.au
LinkedIn – connect www.linkedin.com/in/fincareservice
LinkedIn Company – follow www.linkedin.com/company/financial-care-services
LinkedIn Group – join www.linkedin.com/groups/Financial-Care-Services-4215797
Facebook Page – like www.facebook.com/fincareservice
Twitter Feed – follow www.twitter.com/fincareservice
Past newsletters – see http://www.financialcareservices.com.au/newsletters
Newsletter – subscribe http://eepurl.com/js41T

Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is of a general nature only and does not constitute “financial advice”. You should obtain your own personal financial advice before investing any money or moving in to any retirement village, lifestyle community or aged care facility. Financial Care Services is licensed to provide financial advice to individual clients based on their personal situations.

All eligibility for Commonwealth benefits will be determined by Centrelink or DVA, based on your personal position as documented and the legislation and Regulations in force at that time.