Care Home Fees – How To Protect Yourself From Rising Costs

Currently if you have more than £23,500 in assets and need to go into a home then you will have to pay in full for your residential or nursing home fees.

This is obviously a huge problem for many families, particularly as we clearly are an ageing population with people living on average for far longer.

It is also a huge problem for whichever government is in power. How can expensive care costs without people having to sell their homes. In truth there may be no answer to please everyone.

The Tory Manifesto

The Tory manifesto scraps the previous idea of having a £72,000 cap on care costs, but it does raise the threshold from £23,500 to £100,000. However, it also states that the value of people’s homes will be taken into consideration for care they receive at home which, with so many homeowners amongst our elderly population, means that many people may end up paying more in care costs.

Therefore, although various governments will try and deal with this thorny issue it is unlikely that anyone will be able to come up with a definitive and popular answer.  

With this in mind people should also take legal advice in good time so that they can be sure that they are doing all they can to protect their assets for their children. Many people will naturally think, “why should I pay for my care fees when my neighbour who has never worked pays nothing?”

Do You Have a Will?

Couples should look at their wills. They should look at how their houses are owned. They should consider not leaving everything to their surviving spouse if it is likely that that spouse will need to pay for their care costs. A person can leave their own assets to their children without this being treated as a deprivation of capital for care cost assessment purposes. Trusts can and should be considered as they can provide protection against unforeseen circumstances.

However, anyone looking at this issue should be wary of who they get advice from. If something sounds like it is too good to be true then it generally is. Beware of unregulated companies selling miracle solutions often at vastly inflated prices. No estate planning should cost more than £1000 and most planning should cost less than that. Standard single wills should cost from around £125 plus Vat and mirror wills (for couples) from £175 plus Vat. Finally, if you do not understand what you are being told or what you are being sold then do not proceed as it generally means that the person selling it does not understand it either.

Dominic Mackenzie is a solicitor specialising in Wills, Powers of Attorney and Advising the Elderly. He has written over 10,000 wills in a career spanning over 20 years.

For efficient and no nonsense advice please feel free to contact Ison Harrison solicitors on 0113 2845086 or click here to visit the website: www.isonharrison.co.uk

by Ison Harrison Solicitors