A huge number of us have been adversely affected by nursing home fees, the cost of which can decimate an estate in a very short space of time. Despite various promises from the politicians, nothing is ever done to address this situation and, not surprisingly, Jo Public will do whatever he can to protect his estate so that he can pass it to his children upon his eventual death.
Sadly, there are legal businesses, many unregulated, who persuade worried clients to place their homes into ‘Family Protection Trusts’ while they remain alive and living in them. Clients are told this will protect the home from nursing home fees and also prevent claims from children’s spouses.
So far as nursing home fees are concerned, this does not work. The action of transferring assets either into a trust or to a specific person during one’s lifetime with a view to leaving oneself unable to pay nursing home fees, is classed as a deprivation of assets by the authorities and they will simply ‘look through’ the gift and demand that that the cash is made available to pay fees.
In addition, children’s spouses have no claims on the estates of parents in law unless, of course, the assets pass into the hands of children upon death and then form part of that child’s assets when a marital breakdown occurs.
To make matters worse, the firms that promote such trusts charge more than £3,000 for the privilege. It therefore costs an enormous amount of money to set up something that has no chance of success and very often causes severe problems when the homeowner wishes to sell their property or has to move into a nursing home and needs to pay their fees. This problem is further exacerbated if the firm involved have named one of their own as a trustee and/or the original homeowner is a trustee and has lost mental capacity.
There are ways to protect the value of one’s home from nursing home fee assessment but only after the death of one of the homeowners and only if the property is owned by more than one person.
It is recommended you seek the advice of a legal firm regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority or Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and engage the services of a lawyer who holds appropriate qualifications from either of those institutions. This means that you, as a client, are protected, the firms hold Professional Indemnity Insurance, and you can rely on the advice provided. In the unlikely event that something goes wrong in the future, you have recourse to the professional body concerned.
The contents of this article is intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.
If you would like to discuss your matter, please contact Roz Wyeth by telephone on 02392 001551 or by email roz.wyeth@wyethpaullaw.co.uk.
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