All your income (pensions, interest on savings, divends etc) apart from a small amount would be used to pay those fees. If your income isn't high enough you would have to pay the extra amount from your capital, until it is reduced to the upper limit where Local Authority help is available.
Trust arrangements can be used to avoid the value of a property from being wiped out by care home fees.
You cannot be ejected from your home to pay for your partner's care fees. However, if your partner dies and you subsequently go into care, all your assets and property could be used for payment - until only the upper limit remains.
To avoid this situation, we can draw up a Will incorporating a property trust. You and your partner then both leave your half of your house in trust for your children or other nominated beneficiary, to be claimed once the surviving partner dies.
Although whichever of you survives would have full use of the trust (half of the property), you would not own it and the local authority could not claim it for care fees.
When planning for future care home fees, we will also advise on other matters such as Inheritance Tax planning, transfers of property ownership and the use of Wills and Trusts.
Please contact our Head of Estate Planning Jayne Parsons if you would like to discuss our Care Home Planning services further.
