Husband has savings in excess of £16000, is currently in hospital and about to go into residential care. Will use savings to fund care. Wife is living in their flat and her (separate) savings are just below £16,000. Neither receive Pension Credit and they do not have any joint savings. Could wife claim housing benefit or will joint savings be considered?

A further point is that husband still pays all the bills, rent etc and would like wife to have power of attorney, so she can have access to his bank account when he is in care. If she started paying rent and husband stopped paying the bills, would this give her entitlement to housing benefit?

Based on the info given, it appears that once the husband has gone into residential care, he and his wife have separate households for benefit purposes. i.e. They will no longer be a "couple" under the s.137 definition.

If that is so, their finances should be treated separately; neither's income / cap impinging on the other's. The wife having Power of Attorney makes no difference to the separation of their respective finances. HOWEVER, I always advise people to give serious thought as to whether to take on PoA, or official appointee status, for benefits as the person with that power may well leave themselves open to any subsequent overpayments being recoverable from them.

Personally, I would never apply to become an appointee in relation to benefits, no matter what the circumstances. And, even where I have assisted in the completion of forms for others, I invariably sign the "rep" part for completing the form with the words "as a scribe only".

I broadly agree with Kevin, although on a personal level, I think there may be many circumstances where there is no altetnative to obtaining Power of Attorney and/or becoming an appointee.

I have obtained POA jointly with my brother for both my parents, in my father's case because he had terminal cancer, and in my mother's case because she has dementia. I am my mother's appointee for benefit purposes. (Incidentally, you may take on many of the burden's of being an appointee when you become executor of a will)

I do not take on the role of appointee in my professional life, although I sometimes give my employer that role and make an application for my employer to become a corporate appointee.

In all cases, whether I act as an appointee in a personal capacity, or on behalf of my employer as a corporate appointee, I take extra precations to make sure that I cannot be accused of misrepresentation or failure to disclose. Whenever I make a statement in connection with a benefit claim, I make sure that I clearly state the limits of my knowledge.

Thanks for your very helpful replies