How Hugh James can help
Hugh James have a specialist team able to provide advice in
relation to the protection of assets, the costs of care and
challenging current and retrospective decisions to refuse NHS
funded continuing healthcare to long-term nursing home
residents.
Paying for care home fees
There are currently three main ways in which
your long term care can be funded:
- NHS Continuing Healthcare where an individual
has a physical or mental health need
- From an individual’s income and savings
- Local Authority funding
If you need long term
care in a care home, the first consideration should be your health
needs rather than your ability to pay. If your health needs are not
high enough and NHS Continuing Healthcare is not granted then
you may be entitiled to a contribution towards your care home fees
from the NHS (Nursing Care Funded Contribution) but you will be the
responsibility of the local authority who are entitled to look at
your financial resources when deciding how to fund your care.
The financial assessment
The local authority will
consider both the capital you own and the income you receive to
assess whether you should meet your care costs personally or
whether the local authority should meet the costs of your care.
Your capital
The local authority must consider whether the
capital you own can be included in your financial assessment.
Examples of the types of capital that can be included are as
follows:
- The family home (this is discussed in more detail below)
- Cash in the bank
- Stocks and shares
- Land
Certain capital may be disregarded either
permanently or temporarily. Examples of these are as follows:
- Investment bonds which are linked to life assurance
- Capital held in certain types of trust
- Personal possessions
If the financial assessment finds that you
have capital over the sum of £23,250 (England) or £22,000 (Wales)
then you will be expected to meet the full costs of your care
personally until your assets drop below this figure. Thereafter,
the local authority will assist with the costs of your care.
Your
income
In addition to your capital, the local
authority will also look at the income you receive.
Examples of the income that can be included in
your financial assessment are as follows:
- Most social security benefits
- Trust income
- Occupational pension
- £1 of income for every £250 of capital that you hold between
£14,250 and £23,250 (Applies in England only)
Examples of the income that may be disregarded
either temporarily or permanently:
- 50% of an occupational pension if the resident is paying that
to their spouse/civil partner
- £10 per week of a war widow’s, war widower’s or war disablement
pension
- War widow’s special payments
If you receive income
that is included in your financial assessment then the local
authority will use this income towards the costs of your care.
The family home
The rules surrounding the
treatment of your family home are complex. The inclusion of the
value of your home will first depend on whether your stay in care
is permanent or temporary. If your stay in the care home is
considered to be temporary then the value of the family home should
be disregarded whilst it is considered that you are likely to
return home. After this period the market value of the property
will be included in the assessment.
If your stay is permanent
then the value of your family home will be disregarded for the
first 12 weeks of your stay.
It is possible that the entire value of your
home will be disregarded whilst one of the following applies:
- Your partner / spouse / civil partner continues to live in the
property
- A relative continues to live in the property and they are over
60
- A child under 16 lives in the property and you continue to
maintain them
- Your estranged / divorced partner continues to live
in the property and they are a lone parent
- If the Local Authority exercise their discretion to disregard
the value of the property
- Your property is held in trust (this is dependent on the terms
of the trust)
If your property is jointly held then this may
reduce the market value of your interest in the property.
If the value of your home is taken into
consideration then you may consider the following options once your
liquid assets have been used:
- Selling the family home
- Renting the family home
- Entering into a deferred payment agreement (discussed in more
detail below)
- Equity release
Before making a decision it is essential that
you take professional advice on your options.
Deferred Payment Agreement
It is possible for the
local authority to offer you a deferred payment agreement where the
local authority assist with the payment of your care. They then
recover the monies owed to them when your property is later sold.
Interest will not be charged upon the monies owed during your
lifetime but interest will apply thereafter. The local authority
will also place a charge against your property to ensure that they
can recover the fees. You should seek legal advice before entering
into such an arrangement.
Is there anything you can do to
protect your assets?
It is essential that you
take professional advice in relation to managing your finances as
there are a number of simple steps that can be taken which may help
to protect your assets.
Please click here for
further information on protecting your assets.
Choosing the right care home
You will need to find out about the care homes
in your area. There are different people who can help with this and
you should talk to the following people as a starting point:
Once you have chosen a
home you will need to have a look at the contract for care and
check the cost of the placement to make sure that you are happy
with the terms offered. If the local authority is helping you to
meet the cost of your care then you will need to talk to them about
the contract and the fees offered.
If the local authority is contributing
to my care costs am I able to go into my preferred
care home?
The local authority should arrange a placement
in your preferred care home provided the following conditions are
met:
- that the care home meets your needs
- it does not cost more than the council would usually expect to
pay
- there is a placement for you
- the care home is willing to enter into a contract with the
local authority.
What if the care home fees are more
than the local authority is willing to pay?
If there isn't another
care home available that meets your needs and costs less, then the
local authority will agree to the more expensive care home of
your choice but only if a family member is able to top up the
difference in the fees. This is known as top up fees. It should be
noted there are no safeguards against rapid increases in these
fees. If your preferred care home is the only home available that
meets your needs then the Local Authority should agree to fund the
entire cost of the placement unless an alternative can be
found.
What else do I need to think
about?
It is important that you make sure that your
financial
affairs and in particular, your will is in order.
It is also important to consider whether you
want to appoint someone that you trust to help you to make
decisions about your finances and your health and welfare.
If you do know someone that you trust to help
you then it is important to consider granting that person formal
authority to deal with things for you. This can be done by signing
a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). There are two different types of
LPA:
- property and financial affairs – this allows you to authorise
someone to access your bank accounts to pay for things that you
need and to potentially manage all of your assets
- health and welfare - this allows you to authorise someone to
make decisions on your behalf about your health and welfare when
you are unable to make these decisions yourself.
If you do not sign an LPA whilst you have
capacity then your loved ones will need to apply to the court to
ask for permission to appoint a deputy deal with things on your
behalf. This can be a long, costly and frustrating
process.
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