We had to sell our family home to fund Mum's £8,000 a month dementia care: How you can stop your assets being swallowed by care costs

Résumé détaillé

Hayley Garratt-Milne watched her mother Carole work tirelessly for years to buy a family home for her and her sister.

Hayley Garratt-Milne watched her mother Carole work tirelessly for years to buy a family home for her and her sister.

A single mum, Carole had saved every penny from her job as a hairdresser and bought the four-bedroom house in Isleworth, west London, in 1988, where she brought up her two daughters.

So Hayley, 43, was heartbroken the day she realised she would have to sell that home, full of memories, to pay for her mother’s care fees.

Carole, now 72, became ill with dementia at just 65 and very quickly needed round-the-clock care.

But with little savings and a baby on the way, Hayley and her family struggled to afford the fees for her mother’s care in a Surrey care home, which started at £6,000 a month.

Hayley says this led to the council having a legal claim put in place on her mother’s home.

She said: ‘Mum had a house in London, but she didn’t have any cash. So, Surrey County Council put a charge on her property, and then we were forced to sell it. It was really stressful.’

Hayley Garratt-Milne with her mum Carole on a day out in 2022. Carole became ill with dementia at just 65

Now, shockingly, despite paying that huge sum, Hayley says she is still having to do a lot of the care herself, as she fears for her mother’s safety in the home.

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