People are very worried about the issue of paying for Long Term Care. It is one of the most common questions asked by our clients.
We all like to think that it will never happen to us, but everyone seems to know or have heard of people who have had to sell their home in order to pay for their care. If you don’t quite know why or how you can prevent the same thing happening to yourself or your family then we can advise.
The sad fact is that you’ve worked hard for years to provide a valuable asset to pass on to your loved ones, but your home may be under real threat if you later require long-term residential or personal care.
Why should I plan for this if it might not happen?
Up to one in three women and one in five men will need formal care during their lifetime. There are more than 500,000 people living in residential care and with a growing elderly population, the figure is rising! It is upsetting for widows and widowers, who together had worked so hard for the family home they intended to leave to their children, suddenly losing the family home to pay £35,000-£50,000 a year for care costs.
The fact is that you just do not know. And if you need care, it is already too late to protect your assets…… unless planning is already in place.
What can I do?
Simple Wills are not designed to take account of more moderns concerns such as the impact of one partner being in long term care. This is one reason why you may have heard some horror stories associated with losses of homes to pay for care. This is often the result of not knowing a simple Will is not the only option and not always the best option.
Certain Trusts are designed to protect each person’s assets.
Remember, if one party goes into long term care, the property value cannot be used for care fee assessment if the other party continues to live in the property (providing over 60).
But what happens if someone subsequently dies? If the property is inherited to the person in care, it will then be used for a care fee assessment!
There is a simple solution. Just ask us.
But what if I don’t go into care?
Fantastic! We want all of our clients to live a long and happy life, never needing care. As for any planning we put in place, we never put planning in place purely to protect your assets from care fees. All our planning has multiple benefits. Some of these benefits are for you, and many of the benefits are to protect your beneficiaries. See our “Trusts” page for more information about these benefits and book an appointment with us so that we can tell you more.