Anne lives with her husband Bill; they’ve lived in the same home for over 30 years and have recently celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Bill suffered a stroke a little over a year ago, and now requires the use of a wheelchair to get around. Anne spends a lot of time with their daughter Lucy, her husband Tony and especially cherishes time with her grandchildren.

This story follows Anne's journey in later life and the events that many of us may recognise.


Keep scrolling down....

Anne has been alone in the family home for a little over a year as Bill, Anne's husband, passed away recently. Bill had fallen at home, but prior to this Bill had been a keen DIY fan and had always done the maintenance and upkeep of the house and gardens. Unfortunately, Bill's fall led to complications, and he passed away in hospital, 3 months after his accident.

Now, Anne is having a little difficulty with items like stairs, and has moved her bedroom to the ground floor and feels the gardens are now becoming more a chore, rather than a joy. Her daughter Lucy and her husband are able to visit occasionally, with the grandchildren but it’s a long drive and Anne doesn’t want to make a fuss. She realises that the home of over 30 years, may no longer suit her requirements and Lucy wants her to move much closer to the family.

Anne has no other relatives and wants to still keep active and make some new friends, as well as be much closer to Lucy and the family. She has decided to look at selling the family home to release funds and is looking at care, where she can still be independent, but has support and company when needed.

Lucy remembered seeing an advert in a magazine for an organisation called time4care. Lucy contacted time4care for a free, no-obligation chat and they were able to assist Anne with care advice. They also contacted a provider to assist with choosing the right type of care.

Anne is now much more comfortable in her new apartment, and is enjoying having friends around her with shared interests; she is only a few minutes away from Lucy and gets to spend much more time with her grandchildren.

Anne has decided that her family home is now too much for her to maintain. The stairs are now much more of an issue than they used to be and the garden that used to be beautifully kept by Bill before his fall now needs more upkeep than she can cope with. She does love the family home and wants to ensure that it goes to a new family that can fill the space with children and laughter that she remembers from when Lucy was a child.

Anne is glad that Bill got to spend his final days with her, and as she had power of attorney she was able to assist him when he had to use a wheelchair in his final few months. time4care has assisted her with the estate management issues following Bills passing and as he had made a will this made things much more manageable for the family and Anne to get financial issues sorted.

Anne has been considering her options for the sale of her property and to look to move much closer to the family where Lucy can visit her and she can get to see more of her grandchildren. She wants to move to a supported care facility and use some of the house sale proceeds to downsize into a retirement community.

time4care has assisted Anne with sourcing a managed property service, that has also advanced funds to allow Anne to move while the house was being sold. She is also looking at a care fees plan, which the advanced funds could pay for allowing her to move more quickly.

Anne has always looked to be frugal wherever possible and she and Bill put money away and invested where they could over the years. Once Bill's health began to deteriorate he made sure they contacted a SOLLA adviser, specialising in later life advice, who understood their financial needs.

Anne and Bill wanted to ensure that they made the right decisions on inheritance tax planning, so they could ensure Lucy and her family would be well looked after when one of them passed away. They both had pensions and were keen to ensure these were reviewed as it had been some time since they looked at their finances.

They were surprised that there were state benefits, that they had not considered previously and they were fortunate that their adviser looked carefully at their benefit entitlements and found that they should be claiming attendance allowance. They would not have found this out as it's not something they had previously considered.

Now Anne is alone she is content that she and Bill got their finances fully reviewed. It ensured that she has the financial issues settled not only for herself, but also for Lucy and the family as part of the will that Anne has in place. She’s also planning on leaving a lump sum to two local charities that assisted Bill in his last year.

Anne’s sister, Elizabeth, passed away 5 years ago, and had not made a will, with 7 other siblings and 2 small properties things were confusing and difficult to resolve as Elizabeth had no children.

This was a difficult time for Anne and Bill, as they had lost contact with some of Anne’s relatives and her brother David was suffering from dementia. Anne decided to involve a specialist solicitor, who worked with the elderly.

After identifying the property, investments, and savings Anne was able to get the will executed among her remaining siblings, and they agreed a special fund to ensure David had some specialist support for his wife who was nursing him at home.

Following this Anne retained the services of the solicitor to get her affairs in order, as this had been an upsetting time for her and Bill. They both set up power of attorney, set up wills, and also benefited from the peace of mind that their wishes would be followed.

Later when Bill became ill and Anne was left alone she realised the benefits of her later life planning, and ensured that her own family would benefit from the choices that she had made.


Anne has been through the maze of issues that later life can throw at her. The loss of relatives and loved ones, new challenges brought on by reduced mobility, as well as a move into care. She has got to enjoy time with Lucy, and been there for her two grandchildren.

She is pleased with the support and advice that time4care was able to offer to her and Bill, and felt they were always treated with empathy and understanding. It has later enabled her to plan and make life decisions that have supported not only her but her family at the most difficult of times. Having time4care as a trusted adviser has meant she got the information that allowed her to make the right choices for her and her family. Through the issues on property, care, finance and legal issues she feels she has made a trusted friend.

Get in Touch

If you or someone in your family can empathise with Anne's story and would like to get in touch with someone at time4care, please feel free to send us a message using the form below. Alternatively, why not give us a call? Or drop us an email?
Address
time4care
Network House
Basing View
Basingstoke
Hants
RG21 4HG

.
Telephone:
01256 812700 Option 3
E-mail: contact@time4care.co.uk
LinkedIn: time4care
Twitter: @time4care
 
Contact Time4Care