News and Views
Are you protected against long-term care home costs?

It is an unfortunate fact that many elderly people may find themselves entering long-term care. Whilst the level of care is overall generally very good it is very expensive. The average cost of care is in the region of £400-£600 per week dependant on region. In most cases the individual themselves have to pay for this care. The bill for this could therefore be as much as £31,200 per annum.

Under government guidelines the local authority must charge these costs to the recipient of the care. If you have sufficient income to pay for these costs then no further planning should be required. However, if your income will not fund these costs the local authority can take your assets (cash, investments and property) to fund the care. The authority will take the assets until they reach a level of £19,000 at which point they will begin to fund the care themselves.

There are simple steps that can be taken to mitigate the assets that the local authority can seize. An integral part of such planning is to ensure that you will not be left with inadequate income or assets in the meantime.

To discuss planning to mitigate the loss of assets to pay for long-term care costs please contact Chris Wright. Remember the key to this planning is to act as early as possible.