Blog | Posts Tagged 'Care Fees'

Paying for Care and Means-Testing: A Case Study In other articles, I have examined the rules and regulations surrounding means-testing and the legitimate steps an individual can take to protect some of their assets. Now, in this section, I’ll examine the options available when someone is entering care as a self-funder and is faced with […]

Whilst Granny’s home doesn’t have to be sold during her lifetime, it may well still need to be sold after her death to repay the debt.

For example, if one Spouse is in care and the other is living at home, but then the one living at home dies, all the couple’s wealth will be in the hands of the patient and available to pay for their care. How can this be avoided?

Only the minority will live in care long enough to reach the cap.

If someone permanently enters residential care, owning their own home and they are subject to means-testing, their home is disregarded for the first 12-weeks. What “disregard” means in this context is quite literal – for the purposes of means-testing the home does not exist for those first 12-weeks. All other qualifying assets will be taken into account, but not your home.

Understandably, families who are watching their inheritance disappear whilst an elderly relative is paying for care home fees are keen to put the burden on the NHS. How?

You may consider that Granny can no longer safely live in her own home and that she needs to go into a Care Home, but if the Local Authority doesn’t share that view, there will be no contribution to costs, regardless of whether Granny would qualify on financial grounds alone.

There are more myths about Deliberate Deprivation and Care Fees Planning than any other. I often hear mention of various “rules” relating to time-scales since action was taken, but the reality is there are none.

Understandably, families who are watching their inheritance disappear whilst an elderly relative is paying for care home fees are keen to put the burden on the NHS and reclaim care home fees wherever possible.

Between the upper and lower capital limits the tariff income applied is £1 per week for every £250 the capital exceeds the lower limit. This is equivalent to a guaranteed return on that capital of 20.8% per annum net of charges and taxes. Mission impossible!

My mailbox recently had the following question in it and I thought I should share my answer as it is a commonly recurring theme…

“My question is, no doubt, the most common one; should I put my 88 year old mother’s house (approx value £220,000) in our joint names; she has no savings? My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 5 years ago, but the illness is progressing slowly and she is unlikely to need care for 2/3 years. Would this fall under the ‘deprivation’ rule?”

My post box recently had the following question:

“My Wife will soon be going into permanent care. At present our home is in “Tenants in Common” format. At some stage in the future I will probably want to sell and move to a smaller property. Can the new property be held under “Tenants in Common”?”

My mail box recently had the following question in it regarding a “granny annexe” and I thought the answer would be of interest.

The question was on behalf a friend. The father, late 80s, with Alzheimer’s Disease has recently lost his wife. The family is considering the possibility of the father selling his house and using some of the money to build a granny annexe to the home of one of the children.

Aspects of the Dilnot Commission are incorporated into the Care Act 2015, including a “cap” on care costs and an increase in the asset threshold. Will this help you? The Government’s “smoke and mirrors” approach to this is exposed!

Underpinning the funding elements of the Care Act 2014 are “Eligible Care Needs”, which are explored in this article.

In this article I introduce the Deferred Payment Scheme (“Equity Release” offered by the Local Authority in lieu of selling Granny’s home to pay for her care).

If you are needing help with deciding what is the right care package for you or a loved-one this article introduces you to MySupportBroker, who can do all the leg-work for you and probably save you money into the bargain.

Giving your home away is an extremely bad idea for a number of reasons. Firstly, when you give your home away, you do exactly that, it is no longer your asset, it belongs to someone else.

Asset Protection Trusts The Internet is infested with websites proclaiming guaranteed routes to excluding assets from means-testing and my opinion is that these are, at best, disingenuous. Be wary of trusts to avoid care home fees. Why Asset Protection Trusts are not a good way to avoid care home fees. Many of the schemes are […]