Eighty-eight year old, George* currently lives in a retirement village.
A decade ago, during a time when George was in hospital, he agreed to become a guarantor for his son’s wife’s parents.
An Assurance of Support was signed by George which resulted in a $14,000 bank guarantee for his Assurance being lodged with the bank. This Assurance of Support also meant during that 10- year period this lump sum was frozen in George’s bank account, meaning he could not access these funds.
In October 2017, Centrelink advised George the Assurance of Support period had expired and he was eligible to apply for a release of the $14,000. George became confused with the process and overwhelmed with the fact that his money has been locked away for an extended period of time and he sought Cairns CLC’s support to assist him through the process. The team was able to provided him with support from a social worker, then liaised with Centrelink and his bank to initiate the process to release the funds back to his account.
*Not his real name.