Case Study - Xiu and Lee
Lee and Xiu were happily enjoying their retirement until, one day Lee suddenly collapsed and was rushed to hospital. Xiu thought she’d just broken a few bones and would quickly recover, but in fact his wife was very sick and had suffered a stroke. Xiu didn’t know how he was going to manage - Lee needed more help than he could give her and the rest homes he’d spoken to cost much more than he could afford.
The hospital said that Xiu wouldn’t be able to live at home any longer. Xiu had to find a rest home as soon as possible and then Lee would be transferred there.
Xiu was shocked – not only that Lee needed to live in a rest home from now on, but at the cost of the home. He didn’t know how they were going to cope.
Luckily, Xiu’s neighbour told him about Public Trust. We were able to have a look at his finances and see how we could structure them to ensure that Xiu and Lee got all the benefits they were entitled to. They set up a prepaid funeral trust and a regular gifting programme and were then able to apply for a Residential Care Subsidy.
Public Trust even completed the paperwork for the Residential Care Subsidy. It’s a long document to complete and requires lots of supporting documentation. It’s important to get it lodged on time, as the subsidy payment is only backdated for 3 months, so if Xiu didn’t lodge the application within three months, he would end up paying the full cost for Lee’s rest home care until the application was accepted. With Public Trust completing the documentation for him, he knew it would be done right the first time and the subsidy would be effective from the date Lee moved in.
Lee has now moved into the rest home where she receives the care she needs. Xiu was so impressed with the service he received from Public Trust that he is now getting us to manage his day-to-day finances so that he can focus on spending precious time with Lee.
