Where can you find money? Whose house is it any ways?  My Mom had unexpected artery surgery when I was away on business for a month.  My Father at this stage could not handle the care but was not ready for me to hire our own team.  I ended up hiring a Care Aid company that charged $36 per hour and I paid the bills without thinking.  I was back home before Christmas and clearly remember feeling like vomiting when I saw the care cost had amounted to over $80,000 in just three months.  How was I to continue to offer Mom the care I believed she deserved?  This situation forced me to look at my own financial limitations and look hard for a solution.

My Dad would not let me mortgage their house and even if I could the bank was going to limit the mortgage to what they could repay on a pension.  It made no sense.  The reverse mortgage might have worked but again I was blocked by my father.  I was forced to find my own care team at a lower cost.  This put me in contact with others that work in the care aid field and I discovered by chance a grant that would work for Mom.  It still took months to get the grant in place but that coupled with lower cost staff gave Mom the care level I wanted her to have.

After my Dad passed I was able to mortgage her house but the amount I could borrow was based on my financial situation leaving my husband and I with limited borrowing capacity.  My next option would have been to move Mom and use the funds realized from the sale of her house to set her up in a different home.  Never ideal for someone with memory loss.  The grant was the blessing that allowed me to care for Mom in her home with ever increasing needs.

Money adds an incredible amount of stress to the care giving scenario. If as a family you can plan ahead for the day when money may run out that is by far the best plan.  A financial consultant can help budget the care plan.  If you look around you can often access some government funding to help with the care.  Look at any assets that might be available to sell or borrow against.  My Mother always knew her house would be the golden nest egg if she ever needed it.  My Father had different thoughts.  Whose money is it anyway? What better way to use it then to fund their own care.