Long Term Care Issues

It is a sad fact that many of us will know someone in some form of long term care. It is also a fact that Local Authorities have a legal right to take possession of your home to fund the costs of this care. Approximately 100,000 family homes are being legally seized, each year, with a value totalling in excess of £5 billion. Most of this would have been family inheritance and could have been avoided with careful planning.

So what can happen?

Local Authorities cannot take possession of a property occupied by the partner of the person requiring care. They do have a right to place a charge on the property for possession on the death of the partner. If you are the survivor of a partnership and need care the Local Authority would automatically include the home as part of their assessment of your ability to fund the costs of the care.

With care fees any where between £400 and £900 per week, depending upon the level of care and quality of the establishment, it does not take long for the full value of your home to be eroded.

Is there a solution?

If you own your own home and plan properly before the first partner needs care, or dies. You should note that it is not a solution to deliberately transfer your property to someone else to avoid this asset being used to assess your capacity to fund long-term care. However, you are completely within your rights to make provision, within your Will, to transfer your share in your property to a beneficiary, other than your partner.

So what needs to be done?

The first step is to transfer the ownership of your home into Tenants in Common. Then, in your Will you need to make provision to create a trust where your beneficiaries receive your share of the property on the death of your partner, with your partner retaining a life interest in the property.

This protects your share of the property from being included in any calculation made by the Local Authority to assess your partners contribution to long term care, should this be necessary. You can also make provision for your partner to move to another property if they wish.

If you would like to arrange a visit you can call us for free on 0800 878 6565 or 07942 959599 or use our contact page and we will call you back within one working day.

Affordable peace of mind for people from all walks of life and for those not wanting the cost of a high street solicitor.

The home visit Will service is available in Berkshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire.