Published on: 14th December 2020

To spouse or children ~ what a terrible dilemma

Ethel and Bert have been married for a wonderful 70 years together. They met whilst playing on the bomb sites in London in the 1940s. They got married in 1950 and worked hard. They had twins William and Benjamin (who were, of course, always called Bill and Ben) and then Ethel trained as a nurse. Bert was a train driver. They bought their council house in the 1980s and always promised William and Benjamin that they would pass the family home and savings down to them.

Ethel had a fall early in 2020. William and his wife have been clients of Casey & Associates for many years and William contacted us for advice for his parents. Soon after Ethel’s fall we created Wills for Ethel and Bert with a property protection trust that will protect 50% of their home from care fees assessment between the death of the first one and the death of the second one. We also created Casey & Associates enhanced Lasting Powers of Attorney for them both.

Unfortunately in August 2020 Ethel’s physical and mental health started to deteriorate at an alarming rate and she was admitted to a care home in November 2020 having lost mental capacity. William has kept us informed and we have been able to assist with practical advice regarding splitting out joint accounts etc so that it is clear what Bert owns and what Ethel owns. Ethel’s savings are assessed for her care.

When one of a couple goes into care it is easy to assume that it is that one who will pass away first but it is certainly not necessarily the case. William asked for our advice again at this difficult time and on one of the days that William visited Bert we set up a Zoom appointment with a Casey & Associates Consultant.

If Bert does not change his Will and he dies before Ethel all of “his” savings will go to Ethel and be used to pay for her care. Is that what Bert wants? Should he change his Will to leave his savings to William and Benjamin. To spouse or children ~ what a terrible dilemma. There is no right or wrong answer in such cases. The right decision is what the spouse who is not in care wants to do. In this case we worked with Bert to come up with a superb compromise. If Bert dies before Ethel then 50% of his savings will go to Ethel to contribute towards her care. The other 50% is going into a trust. The income from the trust will go towards Ethel’s care but the capital is preserved in the trust for William and Benjamin.

Bert was very happy with this compromise. He did not feel he was letting down Ethel but also he was happy that he was protecting some savings for William and Benjamin.

If you or your family are in a similar position please contact us for advice (free of charge to existing clients) so that options can be identified and discussed. The worst option is to do nothing.

Please contact our friendly team on 01732 868190 or click here.

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Our Covid-19 policy is now that 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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