Nursing Home/Care Fees Planning.
There is one aspect of financial planning that causes most concern and wrangling, and one that I want to tackle with some truths.
I am running some short workshops on this area of Care Fees Planning, but can also get some free information out to you. Drop your details in the box below and I’ll rush this to you. No sales people will call, there is nothing to buy.
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Summary
- There is no guarantee that any plans put in place today will prevent your home being sold to fund your care costs in later life.
- There is very limited case law on instances where funding has been referred back to the Local Authority – and these tend to be very specific instances.
- Giving assets away will automatically allow the Local Authority responsible for your care to recover the costs of your care from your estate (deprivation).
- There is no time limit as to how far back a Local Authority can look.
I know that some of my comments will upset possibly inflame those that feel a sense of entitlement to paid for care – I sympathise with those who think their care should be funded but that doesn’t change the reality of where we are today.
It’s the reality that interests me in these matters, if you feel it’s unfair then you should take up the matter with your MP.
I have included a short presentation below which outlines some important points about your Care Fees planning. It won’t take long.
Send me your details via the box below and I’ll send you important information and let you know when I am next running these informal workshops. No salesman will call and your information is not shared.
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The 2014 Care Act finally puts in place a little respite in relation to the costs of care, via a Care Cap of £72,000, however this is now not going to be in place until 2020 if it’s put in place at all.
UK government is facing a real problem. It’s expenditure is more than its income.
Of course they could increase taxes to suit, but with over 47% of gross income being taken in tax and other mandatory spending (ask for my article about Alison Average) increasing taxes is not an answer. Spending less may well be the only answer which is they way this Government is currently going down.
I am running some short workshops on this area of Care Fees Planning, but can also get some free information out to you. Drop your details in the box below and I’ll rush this to you. No sales people will call, there is nothing to buy.
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You should understand that the government is not like you and I. If it needs to increase spending it needs to raise taxes, whereas you and I would do some overtime in order to increase income.
The government is not meeting is spending obligations at the moment, and it’s hoping taxation income is going to go up – I remind you of my most used saying “hope is not a plan”.
Government spending in many areas is reducing. Fact.
Evidence
State pensions ages have been creeping upwards and look likely to increase even further, reducing the total cost to taxpayer.
Has given Pension Flexibility in order to sweeten the reduction in state pension provision, more income tax and personal responsibility.
Auto enrolment pensions that have been slowly rolled out over recent years, increasing the burden on employers as they are forced to make payments for staff.
Tuition fees being passed back to students thus reducing further reductions in state spending.
Benefit reductions and caps.
Reduction in funding from central government to local government forcing up local taxes.
Reduced spending on infrastructure projects overall.
Public sector pension liabilities are increase massively and the burden of these unfunded schemes means any shortfall is picked up by the taxpayer. These shortfalls have been increasing.
Looking forward, the question you need to ask yourself is this does it look likely that the UK Government will be needing more money in the future or less and is it likely that some changes to legislation will be made; either/or/all policy is more effectively policed in order to ensure that the correct amounts due are paid?
Why Should I Pay – Why Should My Children Pay
If individuals needing long term care in some form of residential home the costs of this needs to be met from somewhere or someone.
The cash can either come from those that can afford it, or via general taxation – paid by us all.
Based on the statistics produced yearly from Age UK and available from below you will see that some 16% of adults over 85 live in some kind of home. This indicates that some 84% maintain their independence. Which is not something those selling ‘property protection’ plans will use in their marketing material “have this, but most of you probably won’t ever make use of it”.
For the 16% of adults that need looking after, the average fees are around £30,000 per year with the average life expectancy in a home of two years. The proposed care cap is £72,000 or 2.5 years of current average care home costs. Governments, like insurance company’s tend to know their numbers.
If you are not able to pay your own fee’s or don’t own a property or don’t have other assets, or have in the past owned such assets; then the Local Authority has a responsibility to fund your care – look after you.
The 2014 Care Act (sometimes called the 2015 Care Act wrongly) lays out in clear terms what the responsibility of the Local Authority are.
The same act also allows them to recover the costs of your care if there is evidence that you have deprived yourself of assets in order to reduce your liability. Given that there is a level of fairness required in this area; the legislation accepts that personal responsibility needs to play a part, and if you deprive yourself of an asset or an income that could be used to fund your care, then there is a good chance an attempt will be made to recover the amounts.
The state has an obligation to fund your care costs if you are not able to cover them yourself, the state only has one source of income (tax) therefore if you don’t pay; the costs of your care are paid for by me and my children and possibly their children, of course along with yours. It’s for these reasons the legislation is in place.
Continuing Care – NHS Funded
You may qualify for this and more information is available from the link below.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2392.aspx?CategoryID=68
Court Cases Often Quoted By Those Selling ‘Care Fees Avoidance Plans’
It’s interesting that these (usually) quoted cases have very specific circumstances applying and by no means can be applied generally.
Yule v South Lanarkshire
Beeson v. Dorset County Council
If you are concerned about the effect of your Care Fee’s on your assets, there are some things you can do, I can cover these with you either on a one to one or in s a group workshop.
Meanwhile please be assured that most forms of trust planning, care fees planning, probate and will trusts WILL NOT WORK. No matter how much you spend on them, or how slick the person sitting in front of you is. These are not tested properly under the law.
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