Care home costs

[Mish]

Sorry if this has been answered before but I’ve just joined today

So - French born mother has been back in France for over 40 years after having 3 non French speaking children in UK. Mum lived independently until 1st March this year but moved into a care home which she assured us she could afford.  There was no property etc and is on very low UK & BT pension .  Turns out she cannot afford to live there despite APA etc there is a significant monthly shortfall.  She is adamant that we will not be invoiced for the outstanding amount but getting to the point where I don’t know where to turn. 2 of us are retired and a younger sibling works part time.

any advice greatly appreciated

[Mish]

Sorry meant to add that mum will be 98 in October and is of sound mind but frail in body 

[DaveLister]

I have always read that it is the children that are responsible for any outstanding debts but I'm not in that situation and have never heard of it first hand so there could be exceptions. All I can suggest is that you contact the British Embassy in France and explain the situation. They should be able to point you in the right direction to get the answers you need.

[anotherbanana]

I think that if the children are not in France then they cannot be made to pay but this would need confirming.

[betise]

It looks as though children living abroad are still obliged to pay, at least for countries in the EU. For countries outside it depends whether or not they are signatories of the Haye convention (Albanie, Burkina Faso, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Union européenne, Norvège, Ukraine, et États-Unis d’Amérique)

"Que faire si l’obligé alimentaire réside à l’étranger ?

Une personne dans le besoin peut très bien demander à ses obligés alimentaires résidant à l’étranger de lui venir en aide, notamment pour payer l’accueil en Ehpad ou lui verser une pension. L’expatriation n’annule pas l’obligation alimentaire.

Si le débiteur d’aliments refuse de payer, il est possible d’entamer une procédure de recouvrement de créance à l’étranger. La demande se fait auprès du bureau du recouvrement des créances alimentaires à l’étranger (RCA) du ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères.

Si l’obligé alimentaire réside dans un pays hors de l’Union européenne, le RCA peut intervenir uniquement pour les pays signataires de la convention de La Haye du 23 novembre 2007."