Care Home Fee Protection Wills

Care Home Fee Protection Wills, also known as Property Protection Trust Wills are Wills that help to protect your property against care home fees and help you achieve maximum protection for your assets in a legitimate way.

In this current era, care has become a common practice as people are living longer and depending on care.

Care fees cost on average between £1,000 – £2,000 per week. Annually, this is between £52,000 – £104,000. Currently to receive maximum financial support for care fees from Local Authorities, your assets would need to be at a value of £14,250 or below. This can potentially leave your loved ones with little to no inheritance.

The traditional concept of Mirror Wills does not provide maximum protection for your estate, that is why it is important to complete a property protection trust Will to maximise your inheritance for your loved ones.

Contact us today and we can talk you through our services and how we can help you and your family. Simply call us on 0345 901 0445 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of the team will give you a call back as soon as possible.

At Blackstone Solicitors, we always aim to provide the best service possible. Meticulous in our approach, we will make sure everything is dealt with as you wish and will keep you updated throughout the legal process, ensuring that you always know of any developments.

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What Is A Property Protection Will?

If you own a home jointly, a property protection Trust Will allows you and your partner to leave your half share of the property into a trust for the ultimate benefit of your beneficiaries, this can be your children and leave a lifetime interest for your partner to live in the property.

Example

Mr and Mrs Jones both own a property in joint names. Mr and Mrs Jones want to ensure that their respective shares in the property is ultimately left to their children whilst still providing security and protection for their spouse to live in the property. They also want to ensure that if the surviving partner requires long term care, at least half share of the property is preserved for their children and not used towards care fees.

In the event Mr Jone passes away first, his half share of the property would pass into a trust where his children would be equal beneficiaries. His surviving partner, Mrs Jones would be able to live in the property and maintain it. She would also have the flexibility to move house if she wishes to do so. If Mrs Jones requires long term care, Mr Jone’s share of the property would be safeguarded from the care fee assessment. Therefore, fifty percent of the home value is preserved for the children. In the event Mr and Mrs Jones’ children become divorced, are made bankrupt or predecease Mrs Jones, her interest and possession in the property remain providing her ultimate security and protection. On Mrs Jones’s death the property protection trust would end and the property would pass to the children.

Who Should Make A Property Protection Trust Will?

This Will is suitable for couples who are concerned that one of them may need care in the future.

How Do You Create A Property Protection Trust?

The trust is set up in the Will, it is important to have a Solicitor draft the terms of the Trust in your Will to ensure you are providing maximum protection for your children and your partner. The terms of the Trust would be effective on your death.

When Should You Create The Property Protection Trust Will?

As soon as possible. It is important that the property Trust Will is completed when both joint owners of the property are alive. You cannot protect your half if your partner has already died, at this point it will be too late as the equity of the deceased partner would pass to the surviving partner. Therefore, if the surviving partner requires care, the full value of the property would be vulnerable to care fees.

Would A Property Protection Trust Will Have Any Inheritance Tax Implications?

There are no inheritance tax implications if your beneficiaries are your children, and the joint owner of the property is your Spouse.

What If I Own A Property Jointly With Someone Who Is Not My Partner, Can I Still Protect My Share?

Of course, you can own a property jointly with a sibling that was passed to down to you as part of your inheritance. In other circumstances, you may have decided to invest in a property with other family members or your friends. The same principal applies, you can still leave your share of the property to your children and leave the surviving owner with an interest in possession, the tax implication would differ on this and we would need to explore what would be the ideal and sensible thing for you to do for yourself and your family.

Can The Surviving Spouse Move House?

Yes they can. The family home can be sold and the proceeds of sale can be used to purchase the new property.

Is It Not Easier To Just Gift My Property To My Children During My Lifetime?

This is a common misconception, unfortunately you cannot avoid paying care fees by gifting your home to your children during your lifetime. This would be seen as a deprivation of assets and would be scrutinised by the local authority. Unlike HMRC, there is no ‘7 year rule’ when it comes to paying care fees. The local authority can go back as far as they wish to check transactions when investigating deprivation of assets.

Gifting your home to your family during your lifetime can create other problems too. If the new owner is in debt, the property could potentially be at risk against the creditors. If the new owner goes through a divorce, the property would be vulnerable towards their divorce proceedings.

Are Asset Protection Trusts The Same As Property Protection Trusts?

No, beware of mis-selling scams. Unfortunately, this is another misconception. A life-time asset protection trust is where a property has been transferred into a trust, and the trust is effective during the owner’s lifetime. People often spend thousands of pounds setting up asset protection trusts, yet they can be ineffective. These types of trusts can be seen as a deprivation of assets and the local authority can still consider the value of the property when completing a financial assessment for care fees.

Why Is A Property Protection Trust Will Very Popular?

A property trust completed through a Will would mean that your children will inherit your share on your death through a Trust and you have not deprived or tried to reduce your assets from the local authority during your lifetime.

A property trust Will is the best way to protect your property against care home fees. Although it can’t provide 100% protection from care fees if the surviving owner goes into care, it’s the most legitimate and legally recognised way to protect your asset.

What If I wish To Change My Will?

As the Trust is not effective until the death if the first Spouse/Owner, you can change your Will before this time.

Get in Touch

Contact us today to discuss any matter relating to care home fee protection wills. We can talk about your situation in-depth and get to the bottom of what you need and how we can help. We are here to answer any questions which you have, and we aim to make everything as simple for you as possible.

Our team is approachable and professional and we will do everything in our power to help you get the outcome you need. Call us on 0345 901 0445 or, if you would prefer us to contact you, leave your details via our online enquiry form.

We offer our services to clients in Manchester, Chester, Cheshire and throughout the rest of the UK. We also have an office in London.