More punishment to BC seniors

Many BC Seniors are about to be shafted again...this is beyond belief. My parents, and other seniors in similar situations, will be expected to pay about $150/month more when they are already very borderline in having enough to live on. My father is in a special care unit because he has dementia and is violent with my mother -- they assess his payment based on his income, leaving my mother with very little to live on, as it is now. Once they have to pay this increase, she may very well have to bring him home, endangering both of them or, the other alternative is divorce. That way they would each have the income split in two, giving my mother more to live on and my dad's long-term care facility rates would be less because they are based on income and his would be lower, following divorce.

This is the same government making all of us pay more through the HST to support the business sector and yet willingly targets seniors and the poor - it makes me sick.

Loretta,  get your mom to a lawyer and  get a legal separation document, it does not have to be a divorce. That way their finances can be legally seen to be separate.

That's good advice, remind, but the necessity for it offends me.  Why should a senior be penalized for being married? 

ETA:  There are a lot of couples who would be emotionally devastated by setting up a fake separation. 

ETA:  And, come to think of it, I don't know what the Law Society would say about lawyers conspiring to commit fraud. 

It is not fraud,  it is unfettering her income from his.

And they are separated in actual fact.

I didn't know that they were separated.  But certainly this issue is going to come up for seniors who are not separated, right?

They are separated because he now lives a different life from her in a extended care home. There is no way their finances should be considered to be "together".

However, if they both lived together in such a place it would be different.

That's true, remind. I know they're not alone either...time for a ruckus!

And all it will take to make a ruckus in the short term, as you need short term before  you can create a longer term one, is a legal separation document, made either by a lawyer, or notary, and notaries are way cheaper.

It unfetters her money from his, and they do not have to get a divorce.

You just get certified copies, which can be done cheapeast at your Service BC centre and send/hand them out to the appropriate agencies and viola, her money is hers, and his is his.

Good luck

Did I mention Notaries are way cheaper? ;)

Like getting a lawyer to do it would cost about 600.00, a notary less than a 100.00, in fact, you should be able to get all the certified copies you need too, for about a 100.00 in total.

If she does it before this comes into effect even better.

That's something to think about, remind. I find it really hard to think about counselling my mother, after 53 years of marriage, to go through legal separation because, if she doesn't, she will be poor. And, I know she's not alone -- I can work with her and my siblings to help but what about the rest of people in this situation?

Well, perhaps you could approach it from the position of the implications of what her poverty will mean, to her, her husband, and indeed the family, as her slide into ill health as a result of poverty, will hurt her and her husband and family?

Seniors will cut back on food, especially nutricious food, in an effort to stabilize their finances.

My personal policy is take care of family first, and start building a larger movement to help others, as if your family is stable you have more time to devote to the greater cause.

They will still be married, just not formally acknowleged as living together and sharing finances with a legal separation.

I knew there would be a fly in the ointment...my father has pension income and, if they legally separate, my mother would not be entitled to survivor benefits. This is significant...

Gawd, that is too bad.... :(

Loretta, why don't you check with the community legal clinic nearest you to see if there are any other options? These agencies specialize in poverty law, and they would know about any other government programs that your mother or father might be eligible for to supplement their income or reduce their housing expenses. As you point out, sometimes there are very significant ramifications around coordination of benefits, so it's best to seek professional assistance if you can. Their services are free. Also, you might think about asking the clinic for a referral to a community-based accountant who could advise on any tax angles for dividing income, writing off the extra housing expenses, or claimiing disability tax credits. Not all accountants would necessarily be up on all this but maybe the clinic can recommend someone. Just one other idea -- your MP and MPP's offices probably hear about this kind of thing a lot so they may have something to suggest, ie if there is discretion that could be exercised re any parts of this equation, whether the money coming in or costs being assessed (such as possibly deferring property tax on their home).

It's unfortunate that there probably isn't really any one agency that can advise you on all these areas.

If you click on your area of the province on the map on this page it should direct you to a clinic in your area. If you hunt around this site you might also find links to other activists who are working on issues affecting seniors.

http://www.povnet.org/

triciamarie, thank you. I appreciate your support -- however, I am, how does one say this, "well-connected" to those circles of people in my community and reasonably so in my parents' community. My siblings and I are exploring the possibilties but, they are very limited.

WTF is wrong with people in positions of power who would willingly abuse those who are vulnerable and also lie about it? I know that this has been going on for a long time and have been engaged in working against the BC Libs -- I live in the area near where Fanny Albo was separated from her husband in the last 2 days of her life a few years ago...it's heartbreaking and now it's happening to my parents...something I have been working against...and will continue to do.

You are looking at classist elitism and othering, Loretta.

And it is going to get worse before it ever gets better.

Yes, remind, I know and I agree and fear your second statement. Thanks again, remind, and triciamarie. Sometimes it helps to voice the struggle so that everybody knows what's going on but also because there are few places to safely rant about it...

Maybe if Seniors stopped voting for the furthest right wing parties both federally and provincially in huge numbers, this would not happen?

Loretta, I don't understand this. Are your parents not income splitting now for the sake of paying less income tax? Because I don't believe they can prevent married seniors from doing income splitting.

I am still trying to get things straightened out with them. I was told that my parents had applied for involuntary separation status and still my dad is being charged $1400/month (which will go up about $150ish when these increases come in). However, now I'm told that never happened and I am given the form to help my parents do this. When checking the form, I see a form that declares official separation but nowhere do I see that my mother is still my father's legal spouse after signing. So, I am still working through this with them. I was aware of income splitting and will check to see if that's being done as well but thanks for the reminder, Fidel.

You know, I am so sick of dealing with the bureacracy on this and every other life event -- I could work full-time for months just dealing with our family administration. Who's got the time to do all of this? This is another way in which governments have downloaded their responsibilities upon people, it's not just money. Instead of health coverage, there's applying to the extended plan, if it's a covered item. Instead of seniors coverage, there's this pension, that coverage, the province, the federal government, the health region, the extended benefits...FFS, I need an accountant just to sort this all out. And, I'm trying to work and raise a young child on top of that. I'm tired of carrying all of this...and tired of caring, too. No wonder people move away from activism -- it's all I can do to survive all of this, never mind volunteer for more.

yes, Loretta. Do check it out. The Tories have been trying to take credit for something that's been available to seniors for years and yet many have just never applied for income splitting and old aged supplementary. I believe there are three possibilities for raising income for seniors

1. by income splitting and reducing tax bracket

2. applying for old age supplementary as long as one parent is 65 or older

3. Spouse's allowance somewhere in the neighborhood of a $200 dollars a month from the feds

For example, if the husband's income is ~$30,000 a year on pensions and wife has no income. They can declare split incomes - $15000 each. And $15,000 is around the cutoff for old aged supplementary. The spouse who is 65 or older can apply for old aged supplementary and boost that income up to ~$18,000 or so. And the wife can apply for spouse's allowance, an extra ~$200 or so a month for her. These are rough figures,  and you should check it out yourself, for sure. But the feds won't do it automatically for them, that's for certain. 

Oh gawd I hear you Loretta, and I wish I could help you more, as  that was me for many years, and still is going to go on actually, as my partner is now facing it.

My parents had me late in life so I faced it first.

Thanks for the information, Fidel. I will check to see what's happening in this respect. It's more difficult when my mum's not clear on stuff and I live about 12 hours away from them.

Remind, I remember you telling about the time you were called upon to assist your parents. However we are able to handle it, it's not easy. Thanks for the empathy.

Yes, I too flew and drove across the province dealing with it all for years...living hours away is nasty hard.

After I moved from VIsland, I still had my business cell phone set up for a bit and I got a call from a little old lady in the Vic area who was distraught about her falling out with her daughter, over her finances and independance.

Ended up talking to her for a long time about it, and even developed a plan for her to address her issues of independance intersecting with also requiring care and family assistance. Did it all free of charge after interviewing her, as I just could not handle a  senior woman in such distress and faxed it off to her.

...about a month later, her daughter called who had not been speaking to her, and wanted to know if she could send me something in return, as the plan had helped them as a family  get a handle on things and a place to start from and go towards. I was just happy that they were happy and felt supported.

Have often thought a guide book on how to help your aging parents effectively would be a good thing for someone to do

Sign me up (for purchasing, that is).  I became a suddenly only child and I'd love some guidance on this issue.

remind, are you up for the task? It sounds like you know the hoops through which everyone needs to jump...I'd buy it, too.

Seriously, I would love to, but it would have to get in line, already have 2 on the go, and spend too much time at the computer as a result, as is.  I might need the help myself before it got done...;)

  though... thank you for your affirmation of my perceptions regarding the need

...such a project would require a team effort of sorts, and was thinking  it would be a good project for those entering into, or who are in, Gerontology, as a career focus.

hmmmm....am going to think about this all somemore

If you end up doing it, Remind, I'd like to offer virtual help.  I kind of pride myself on my proofreading and word processing skills. 

wonderful and thank you,  i get bored and lose focus with the proper grammer and spelling of it all, when trying to get nuance down, or revert to medical shorthand

might take you up on  that offer sooner than you may know...but on another project

Remind, you go!!!

Guardianship has been a cash cow for state govs in the US for years.  Now it's come to the UK. Unless we do something, we're next. Pump and Dump, you know!

"The elderly could be asked to pay an 'inheritance levy' of up to £12,000 to help fund a revolution in old age care.

Proposals will be unveiled within weeks in an attempt to end the scandal of an estimated 60,000-plus pensioners a year being forced to sell properties to pay for care home places.

Senior ministers favour the idea of a one-off fee that would either be paid on retirement or deducted from the estates of the elderly when they die."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1192929/Elderly-face-12-000-levy-pay-future-care.html#ixzz0WKoC3q7r

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222971/Anger-court-seizes-3-2bn... [31]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222764/Secret-court-seizes-3-2b... [32]

I wondered how long it would be before this came along.

http://www.senioryears.com/ 

http://www.hls.gov.bc.ca/  [35]

http://www.seniors.gc.ca/ [36]

What do you do when the government has become an abuser?