Care Home Fees and The Protection of Assets

Many people worry about going into a care home and ending up having to use their savings and assets towards payment of the fees.

One of the main concerns that people have is whether the value of their home will be taken into account when calculating care home fees. Your home will not be counted as capital if any of the following are still resident in the property:

• Your spouse or civil partner or someone you live with as a partner
• A close relative who is 60 or over or incaptacitated
• One of your children who is under 18
• Your ex husband, ex wife, ex civil partner or ex partner if they are a single parent

Your council may also not choose to count your home as capital if your carer lives there.

If you go into a care home temporarily then you will not have a financial assessment for the first eight weeks of your stay. The local council will say what they think is a fair amount for you to pay for this time.

You should not deliberately deprive yourself of assets by transferring them to someone else to avoid nursing home fees as if the local council believes that you have done this they can still count what has been transferred as your assets when carrying out a financial assessment.

We can advise you on the options available to protect the value of your home and assets and the risks involved in any transfers being considered.

We can also assist in protecting half of the value of your property under the terms of your Will via the severance of any joint tenancy and creating a trust in your will leaving your half share in the house to someone other than your spouse.

If you are concerned about any financial assessment that has already been carried out on family or friends that are receiving nursing care we can advise if they have been assessed correctly and also provide advice on NHS Continuing Care and claims for top up payments.