Published on: 6th February 2023

Residential Care Financial Assessment and the Family Home

When we are “fit & healthy” we tend to say that we will “never go into a care home”. But there are hundreds of thousands of people in care homes. If you go into care the Local Authority will carry out a financial assessment to see if you qualify for funding towards the cost of your care. Your income and capital are taken into account although some can be disregarded.

We have various trusts that help protect some or all of the family home from care fees assessment. If this is of interest please contact us and we will arrange a meeting to discuss your particular situation in more detail.

However, if you have not carried out any trust planning there are various mandatory disregards in relation to the family home which you might be able to rely on.

If you enter a care home permanently, your interest in your existing ‘main or only’ home is usually taken into account as capital. However, the value should be disregarded from the financial assessment if you no longer occupy the home but it is still occupied, in part or whole, as their main or only home by:

• your spouse, partner, former partner, or civil partner, except where you are estranged
• a lone parent who is your estranged or divorced partner
• a relative of yours, or member of your family, who is:
• aged 60 or over, or
• a child of yours aged under 18, or
• ‘incapacitated’

They must have been occupying the property before you went into the care home. The disregard lasts until the situation changes, at which time it may be included in the financial assessment.

A relative is defined as including: (a) parent (including an adoptive parent); (b) parent-in-law; (c) son (including an adoptive son); (d) son-in- law; (e) daughter (including an adoptive daughter); (f) daughter-in-law; (g) step-parent; (h) step-son; (i) step-daughter; (j) brother; (k) sister; (l) grandparent; (m) grandchild; (n) uncle; (o) aunt; (p) nephew; (q) niece; (r) or the spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner of (a) to (k) inclusive.

Someone is ‘incapacitated’ if they receive any of these benefits: Armed Forces Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Personal Independence Payment, Severe Disablement Allowance, or a similar benefit.

If they do not receive these benefits but their degree of incapacity is equivalent to that required to qualify for such a benefit, they also qualify. Medical or other evidence may be needed for a decision in this case.

If you are a home owner and are interested in finding out how our trusts may be able to help you plan for the future please click here.

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If you wish to give instructions or require general information about our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, or Trusts then we will carry out a telephone or Zoom appointment. However, if you wish to give instructions to one of our Consultants and you feel that you can only do this at a Face to Face meeting we are offering, at our Consultant’s discretion, a limited number of Face to Face appointments in most of the areas we normally cover (subject to Government advice). To see the areas we normally cover please click here. To arrange an appointment please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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