Care home fees – our lawyers can help you plan for the future
Care home fees are of increasing concern as life expectancy increases. For more of our loved ones, being looked after in a care home will be necessary in later years. If you are dealing with this difficult transition for a family member or are concerned about your own future, our solicitors specialising in care home fees can provide the advice you need.
The rules relating to care home fees and funding are complex. Protecting assets from care home fees as far as possible is essential to ensure that you can pass on your wealth in the way you want. But strict rules mean you could break the law if you try to give away your assets. Seeking expert legal advice from solicitors specialising in care home fee issues will ensure you understand exactly what you can do and what to avoid.
If you are helping a relative move into care, they may be entitled to have some or all of the expense funded by the local authority. Our team are here to assist if you need it – we can provide advice and guidance so that you can ensure your relative receives financial help if they are eligible.
The Private Client team here at Bonallack & Bishop, provides specialist advice to not only to clients locally across Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Dorset but also throughout England and Wales – from our offices in Salisbury, Fordingbridge, Andover and Amesbury.
For FREE initial phone advice about care home fees, simply call our solicitors on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 or one of our local office numbers [see below] for a no strings attached conversation.
Care Home Fees planning – how our team can help
We offer a full range of legal services relating to care home fees, including:
· Advice on funding care fees
· Protecting assets from care fees, including advice on:
o Deliberate deprivation of assets
o Structuring your estate to safeguard your assets
o Inheritance Tax and care home fees
o Having the right Will
o Setting up a trust
o Making a Lasting Power of Attorney
· Advice on obtaining an assessment for Continuing Health Care
· Advice on obtaining NHS-funded nursing care paid for by the Clinical Commissioning Group
· Care home fees recovery claims, including post-death claims
Advice on funding care fees
Our solicitors specialising in care home fees and wealth management are experts in dealing with the complicated rules and regulations surrounding funding. We will take the time to understand your circumstances and provide the tailored advice you need to manage care funding for you or your loved ones.
Who has to pay for care?
Whether or not you have to pay for your own long-term residential care depends on several factors, including your health, the type of care you need and how much you have in assets.
There are two main types of residential care homes in the UK:
· Residential care homes; and
· Nursing homes
The average cost for a residential care home in 2024 is around £800 a week and over £1,000 per week for a nursing home. Regional variations mean the cost in some areas is considerably more than this.
Some individuals have all of their fees paid by the local authority, some are part-funded by the local authority and some have to pay all the costs themselves.
Those not qualifying for NHS funding on health grounds will face means testing. In England, the local authority will offer some assistance with fees once someone’s assets fall below £23,250. After their assets drop below £14,250, the local authority will pay for all of their care.
Calculating the value of someone’s assets takes into account everything, including savings, pensions, investments and property. The only exception is when someone’s partner or another individual lives in their shared home.
What care is paid for by the NHS or local authority?
If someone has a very serious ‘primary health need’, the NHS will pay nursing home fees under its NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) scheme. A primary health need is the need to have an ongoing physical or mental condition treated or prevented from worsening.
If an individual needs nursing care but does not qualify for CHC, they could still be eligible for NHS-funded nursing care (FNC). This is a contribution paid by the NHS and intended to cover the nursing part of their care.
What is the difference between healthcare and social care?
There is a distinction between healthcare and social care. The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare says that in general terms, a healthcare need is “… related to the treatment, control or prevention of a disease, illness, injury or disability, and the care or aftercare of a person with these needs (whether or not the tasks involved have to be carried out by a health professional).
“In general terms … it can be said that a social care need is one that is focused on providing assistance with activities of daily living, maintaining independence, social interaction, enabling the individual to play a fuller part in society, protecting them in vulnerable situations, helping them to manage complex relationships and (in some circumstances) accessing a care home or other supported accommodation.”
If you can establish a primary health need, the NHS should pay for all care.
How is someone assessed for care home funding?
The local authority will conduct a means test to see whether someone is eligible for funding based on their financial situation.
If someone has a primary health need, the authorities will assess whether this qualifies them for CHC. If they do, the NHS should pay all of the costs of their care, whether at home or in a care setting.
Where an individual will not receive CHC but needs nursing care provided by a registered nurse, they may be entitled to receive NHS-funded nursing care. This is a fixed-rate payment made directly to the nursing home by the local Integrated Care Board.
The authorities will carry out an assessment to establish whether someone qualifies for FNC. If they have a nursing need and the authorities decide a nursing home would best meet this need, they will receive FNC.
What will happen to my home if I go into care?
If someone lives alone, their home’s value is considered during the means-testing assessment. If they need to pay for their own care, they will need to find the funds either from savings, income or investments or by releasing money from their property.
There are several ways of doing this if they do not want to sell their home but have insufficient other funds.
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Deferred payment agreement
The local authority may agree to defer payment. This means that they will wait until the point when the home is sold to be paid. A deferred payment agreement is similar to an equity release plan but may include some restrictions on where the individual can receive care.
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Renting out the property
A homeowner can rent out their property to provide an income. This involves administration work as well as ongoing maintenance and other legal obligations. If someone has signed a Lasting Power of Attorney for property and financial affairs, their attorney can deal with the rental process for them.
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Equity release
Equity release is when a lender pays a lump sum to a homeowner in return for a share of the property in the future on sale. It enables the homeowner to retain the property, which they may want to do if they wish to live there and receive care at home.
The equity release company will charge interest on the money provided and a substantial sum is usually repayable on the eventual sale of the property.
Click here to read more about how Equity Release could help you
When is your home not included in a means test?
In some circumstances, your home will not be taken into account during means-testing. This includes when:
· You live at home and are receiving care at home
· Your spouse or partner lives in the property
· A relative aged over 60 lives in the property
· A disabled relative lives in the property
· A child aged under 18 lives in the property
Is there a cap on care home fees?
The UK Government plans to bring in a care home fees cap in October 2025. The intention is that no-one will have to pay more than £86,000 for their residential care, which includes help with washing, dressing and mealtimes, and nursing care.
If they have sufficient assets, they will still need to pay for personal care, including accommodation, food, energy bills and personal expenditures.
Protecting assets from care fees
A question clients often ask us is, how do I protect my assets from care home fees? The key is to take action as early as possible. If you wait until it is clear that you or your relative will have to move into care, you may have missed some opportunities.
What is deliberate deprivation of assets?
It is, however, an offence to intentionally get rid of assets to avoid paying care home fees. Known as deliberate deprivation of assets, if the local authority suspects this has happened, they have the power to investigate and require the individual to pay for their care.
Deliberate deprivation of assets is giving assets away when you know that you might need care in the future and you give the assets away to avoid paying for it.
It includes spending more than usual, transferring your home to a relative, gambling and buying valuable items such as jewellery or cars.
The local authority can include the value of assets spent or given away in their means-test calculations.
They have the power to consider transactions as far back as they want.
Structuring your estate to safeguard your assets
To avoid allegations of deliberate deprivation of assets, you need to take action before there is any suggestion that you may need care in the future.
There are several points to consider when deciding how to tackle the issue.
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Inheritance Tax and care home fees
Structuring your estate correctly may mean that you can reduce your estate’s Inheritance Tax liability. Inheritance Tax is payable on the part of an estate that exceeds £325,000, with some allowances and exceptions. The rate is generally 40%.
Assets given away during the last seven years of someone’s life are also generally included when valuing an estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. Again, this means that making plans early on is crucial.
You can transfer property and assets to people, provided it is not with the intention of avoiding paying for care that you know you may need in the future. We can advise you on the implications of doing this.
If property is given away more than seven years before death, Inheritance Tax will not usually be payable on it, provided you do not retain any benefit in it. If you retain a benefit, the Inland Revenue will usually include it in Inheritance Tax valuations. For example, if you give your property away or sell it to a relative at below market value and continue to live there yourself, you will have a retained benefit unless you pay full market rate rent.
Maximising the size of your estate and minimising inheritance tax requires proper estate planning which is particular to your own personal circumstances..
Click here to read more about how our Inheritance Tax Planning Lawyers can help you
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Having the right Will
Having a valid and up-to-date Will is an essential part of planning for the future. Working with solicitors specialising in care home fees to put the right Will in place means you can safeguard your assets as far as possible.
Without a Will, there is a risk that your preferred beneficiaries could lose out because your spouse has to use your assets to pay their care home fees.
For example, if your spouse inherits everything from you because you left them those assets outright under your will, or you simply did not have a Will, this money might have to be used to pay their care fees in the future.
You can use your Will to leave them a life interest in your assets. If your spouse receives a life interest in your shared home, they can live there for as long as they want. Once they leave, the money can be used for them but it is not means tested. After their death your share will pass to your chosen beneficiaries.
Click here to read more about writing a will
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Setting up a trust
There is also the option of setting up a trust. This is only possible if it is done well before any suggestion that you may need care. You cannot do it specifically to avoid care home costs in the future. Some unscrupulous providers offer trusts to avoid care home fees. Using them can expose you to liability for breaking the law and the requirement to pay all care home fees in full.
Our solicitors can advise you if a trust is a sensible option in your particular circumstances.
And the team includes a genuinely specialist trust solicitor, Elizabeth Webbe. She is a Full Member of STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners,whose describe their members as “internationally recognised as experts in their field, with proven 
qualifications and experience
Click here to read more about how our Trust Lawyers can help you
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Making a Lasting Power of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document giving someone the authority to manage your affairs in the future, should you need this. There are two types:
· A property and financial affairs LPA; and
· A health and welfare LPA
A health and welfare LPA can only be used by your attorney if you have lost the mental capacity to manage your own affairs.
You can authorise a property and financial affairs LPA attorney to deal with matters on your behalf after the LPA is registered, even if you still have mental capacity. You can give them permission to deal with a range of issues, including:
· Looking after your home, including renting it out
· Selling your home
· Managing your investments
· Paying your bills
· Receiving your benefits
· Arranging care on your behalf
· Deciding what care you will receive
· Liaising with the authorities over payment for care
We strongly recommend an LPA as it gives your family the reassurance of knowing that they will be able to help you in the future if needed. They will be able to deal with the local authority, the NHS and care homes on your behalf.
Click here to read more about how the Lasting Power of Attorney
Funding care home fees FAQs
How do I get an assessment for Continuing Healthcare for my relative?
NHS CHC is healthcare paid for by the NHS but provided outside of a hospital. In assessing eligibility, the authorities look at overall needs rather than the individual’s diagnosis.
The first step in getting CHC is usually for an NHS continuing care checklist to be filled in by a health or social care professional such as a doctor, nurse or social worker to establish whether a full CHC assessment is needed.
You can speak to a doctor, social worker or healthcare provider or ask your local Integrated Care Board if they will carry out an assessment.
Once the initial checklist has been completed and submitted, the authorities will refer your relative for a full assessment if eligible. Alternatively, the authorities may tell them they do not qualify for CHC.
If someone does not qualify for CHC, they could still qualify in the future if their health changes. You can also appeal a negative decision.
What is NHS-funded nursing care?
NHS-funded nursing care is when the NHS pays the care home for the cost of nursing.
The authorities will generally carry out a CHC assessment and use this to decide whether an individual qualifies for FNC.
If the assessment finds that the individual requires a registered nurse to provide care, they will be eligible for the funding. They must live in a nursing home and have the care carried out by a nurse employed within the home.
Can I recover care home fees, including after someone’s death?
If someone with a primary health need funded their own care, they may be entitled to claim back the care home fees they have paid, plus interest.
If they have died, it is open to their personal representative, either their executor or administrator, to make a claim.
Our specialist care home fees solicitors who can advise you of your rights and compile a robust claim on your behalf.
Who is legally responsible for care home fees?
The individual moving into care is responsible for their care home fees unless someone else signs a contract agreeing to pay.
Where someone does not have enough money to pay for their own care, they may qualify for assistance from the local authority.
A relative can agree to pay for care or top up care home fees, but there is no legal obligation to do this. If you are thinking of contributing towards the care home costs of a loved one, you need to bear in mind that these are likely to increase each year. Even if the local authority contributes, there is no guarantee that this contribution will also increase.
