Hi there, we are new to all this and have just placed my mother-in-law in residential care as she has Alzheimers.  Now we have to look at seeling the property, and are in the process of the financial assessment by the Local Authority.

We are very concerned at what we are being told by the Council.  Obviously in the current economic climate we do not expect the house to sell quickly, and there are some associated costs with maintaining the property with a view to selling it (eg house insurance, gardener, putting the heat on occasionally over the winter months to protect against burst pipes).  However we are being told that this will not be taken into account in her financial assessment and that we will not be allowed any money to pay for these things.

We cannot afford to pay these things ourselves as we just manage to pay our own bills, and also in principle we do not see why the money to maintain her estate cannot come out of the estate.  We are not sure what we are expected to do, and would be grateful to hear if anyone has any experience or advice.

Thank you