Worried about my brother

Not sure if this is the right place, but would appreciate any feedback. My 47-year-old brother lives with my 77-year-old mum in the family home. He has various mental health problems, but has never been officially diagnosed. He's never claimed benefits either. To be honest, apart from mild depression and anxiety, he could work. I can't see a GP accepting that he's unable to work, put it that way. He has never had a proper job or paid any National Insurance. In fact, I doubt he shows up on any government computer! My dad died ten years ago and my brother and mum have lived on the life insurance ever since.

I worry about the long-term. What will happen if my mother has a stroke or something and has to go into a nursing home? Will the house be sold to pay for care fees? Would they make my brother homeless?

On the other hand, if she dies at home at, say, 86, he'll inherit enough to buy a flat (after the house is sold), but he'll then be a 56-year-old man with a blank CV and no savings. Who is going to give someone like that a job? And what the heck could he do anyway? How will he pay the council tax or electricity bill? To be fair to him, he does feel responsible for her, and doesn't feel he could leave her on her own at 77. But it also kind of suits him not to have to work.

Reply 1

C_dubem

Original post by moksha76

Not sure if this is the right place, but would appreciate any feedback. My 47-year-old brother lives with my 77-year-old mum in the family home. He has various mental health problems, but has never been officially diagnosed. He's never claimed benefits either. To be honest, apart from mild depression and anxiety, he could work. I can't see a GP accepting that he's unable to work, put it that way. He has never had a proper job or paid any National Insurance. In fact, I doubt he shows up on any government computer! My dad died ten years ago and my brother and mum have lived on the life insurance ever since.
I worry about the long-term. What will happen if my mother has a stroke or something and has to go into a nursing home? Will the house be sold to pay for care fees? Would they make my brother homeless?
On the other hand, if she dies at home at, say, 86, he'll inherit enough to buy a flat (after the house is sold), but he'll then be a 56-year-old man with a blank CV and no savings. Who is going to give someone like that a job? And what the heck could he do anyway? How will he pay the council tax or electricity bill? To be fair to him, he does feel responsible for her, and doesn't feel he could leave her on her own at 77. But it also kind of suits him not to have to work.

Hi, I hope you are ok,
The government may be able to pay him carer’s and jobseeker’s allowance if necessary to help him keep up with bills etc… but I think that there are some things that he must be eligible for in order to receive government benefits.

Since he isn’t working I don’t think that he has to pay tax until he is earning an income above a certain level.
If the government or council is aware of this situation, perhaps he could be granted a council home (dependent on the need and severity of the situation), however he may need to find some source of income.
In terms of his CV being empty, I am sure that he could get a job in some form of hospitality (since he has experience of caring for an elder) or he could work in a charity shop or small business (to gain some other work experience for his CV).
There are also many online courses that he could do alongside caring for his mother in order to gain some qualifications to secure a small and stable job for later on (remote or in person).

I hope this helps a bit,
I’ll keep you all in my prayers
By God’s grace I hope things work out.

(edited 6 months ago)