Care costs – ‘A threat to your legacy’ In England & Wales, anyone with more than £23,250 in assets – including savings, stocks & shares and property- are NOT eligible for any help with their care costs. However, this does not automatically mean that your home is at risk. Councils cannot take it if any of the following people are living in it: • Your spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner • A relative aged 60 years or above • An incapacitated relative aged 60 years or under • An estranged spouse or partner who is responsible for a dependent child • A dependent child for whom you are responsible Whether you jointly/solely own your home you will be liable for paying full care costs* see below. If you cannot pay the fees up front, the only way to meet your liability is to reach an agreement with your local authority for payment from your estate and that will mean the sale of your home, unless you have someone living with you who fall in the category listed above: “Could you face losing your home?” The good news is that this can be avoided with careful planning by safeguarding yourself with a Protection Trust. By setting up a Protection Trust, you can remove your home from the care cost equation altogether, bringing you and your family, peace of mind. A protection trust – (PT) – works likes this: • It can be set up during your lifetime or in your will. • We recommend you create a PT NOW, that is, during your life rather than in your will, which will only take effect on your death. • The trust enables you to live in the property along with the trustees to maintain and use the trust property. A PT is also very useful for protecting the children from first marriages. If care costs are causing you sleepless nights, contact us and we can secure your home and your legacy so that no one loses out if you can no longer manage on your own. Trusts To Protect Property From Long Term Care Costs According to government figures we are generally living longer, but not all of us will live out our old age in good health, many of us will need some level of long term care. Long term care doesn’t come cheap. The average yearly cost for residential care in the UK is in excess of £25,000 in the midlands and the north of England, rising to a staggering £50,000 in London and the South of the country. If you opt for the luxury of private nursing care, the cost cast spiral to what can only be described as unreasonably high levels. While some state help is available, unless you need specialist care supplied by the NHS, funding is provided by your local authority and subject to means testing. If you have capital with a value over £23,250 you won’t receive any local authority funding. Your Home In most cases, a person’s main asset is the home which they live in. Local authorities will insist that where no spouse, elderly relative or dependent individuals live with the person requiring care, the house forms part of the financial assessment to determine the liability for the payment of the care fees. The value of their home will have to be used to pay for Care Fees. Protecting your Home Many schemes, including giving your house to your children, are dangerous and depending on the circumstances, are unlikely to work. There are solutions available to protect your house from being used for care costs, and ensuring it passes to your children by placing assets into a Protection Trust (PT). This works for couples and single people and is available to you by Law, the trust may be formed any time during your life once you are over the age of 18, and can also help to protect the loss of property by the family following a second marriage. For single people and couples owning a property, a trust can be created during your life time to ensure it passes to your family and not lost to care costs- as such there is now a solution available, there can be no excuses for being caught short. Essentially, the trust places your property into ‘trust’ during your life so if either or both partners have to go into care, the property is protected and will pass on to your loved ones. To find out more about our Assets Trusts please contact us, and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.