Hi

I'm writing on behalf of my parents who are both 75 and live in Torrevieja.

They own there property outright but don't have any spare funds other than what they spend on their combined pensions.

I recently lost my father-in-law and it made me think what the future would be like for my parents when living abroad and away from home for the last 10 years.

As they don't have any savings they have no funds for funeral arrangements and have therefore decided to donate their bodies to the local medical institutions. They did sign a declaration but of course its all in Spanish and I'm sure its not pretty straight forward. Its not a nice conversation to have with your parents but things do need to be put in place and know the necessary has been taken care of.

My father-in-law was not in a good way and even in the UK we found it a major struggle trying to get him into a nursing home and there wasn't any spare beds especially as it was NHS funded and not private. This is what got me thinking more. What if my parents do become ill and one cant care for the other. What is the procedure like in Spain. Are there expats nursing/care homes funded by your pension and if so would you be homed easily?

You see my parents aren't really capable of sorting out their future responsibilities and unfortunately I don't fly, so its not that easy sorting stuff out when we are in two different countries.

I'm after any sort of advice no matter how small. Really appreciate your time.

It s a difficult discussion but i guess whichever one was left alone would probably be better off selling up and becoming self funders in the UK, their pensions would be off set against the cost and the equity would be used for the balance. You can also buy bonds with your capital that fund the home for as long as you need it. I think they are called immediate needs bonds. There is probably a load of information on them on the Internet, not sure if you can get them in Spain you probably can. also if they were in some kind of care home in Spain and they don't speak Spanish that might be quite difficult.

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Care of the elderly here is done by the family on the most part but there are residential homes but they are inclined to be expensive. I understand that in areas where Brits have settled they have been setting up facilities but I do not know what is available in their area so hopefully someone else will help you with that.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

As far as I know, there are no state funded nursing homes. It is the responsibility of the family to look after their parents

And yes nursing homes are expensive. Someone I know pays 1500 euros per month for their father

Try this.

http://www.viva-alicante.com/home_ca..._sl_p31806.php

more info here.

http://costablanca.angloinfo.com/af/...-services.html