Care costs consuming island homes:
Could this affect you?
Reasons for Disregarding Property as Capital
There are some exceptions to counting property as capital when assessing an individual’s ability to pay for their care fees. The value of the property may be ignored if:
• The property is disregarded for the first 12 weeks of a permanent stay in residential care. However if the house is sold within this period the disregard will cease to have effect from the date of sale. During this period if your capital limits exceeds £13,750 then you will still be required to contribute towards your care costs. If you leave residential care within 12 weeks and then return within 52 weeks you will be entitled to the remaining weeks for your property to be disregarded. If you return to residential care after 52 weeks, you will be entitled to a further 12 weeks of disregard. Again this only applies to one property.
• The property will be disregarded where you have gone into residential care and no longer occupy the property but it is still occupied whole or in part by: your partner or former partner (except divorced or estranged); a lone parent who is your estranged or divorced partner; your relative or a member of your family aged 60 or over or under 16 and is a child who you are liable to maintain or is incapacitated. In law the term relative includes mother, father, brother sister in addition to adoptive parents and children; step parents and children; parents-in-law; sons and daughters-in-law; and civil and unmarried partners. It does not include cousins.
• The stay in a care home is on a temporary basis and you intend to return to your property OR The stay in a care home is on a temporary basis while you take steps to dispose of the property in order to buy another which will be more suitable. Only one dwelling house can be disregarded in such circumstances. Further, if your stay was initially thought to be permanent but turns out to be only temporary, the property you normally occupied as your home should be assessed on the basis that you care needs were temporary from the outset.
• Where you have acquired property which you intend to live in. This could be disregarded for up to 26 weeks from the date you intend to take up occupation.
• Council Discretion: The LA can disregard the value of the property in which a third party continues to live, for example, someone who has given up their own home to care for you or who is an elderly companion, particularly if they have given up their own home.
A Greater Risk for Lone Residents
If you are elderly and live alone, or know of someone, for example, whose spouse or partner has passed away, leaving them alone, there is a greater risk of them losing their home to pay for care costs in these circumstances. The full capital value of the property will be counted and in terms of being widowed the full value is passed to the surviving person, which will be assessed if they decide to move into residential care, as well as the value of all other assets.
Can My Local Authority Force Me to Sell My Home?
Your LA cannot force you to sell your home to pay for care but the fees will accrue as a debt against your name. The LA could defer your contributions as an interest free loan but this will be paid back once your property is sold (which is likely to have an additional legal charge placed on it) or your estate wound up. If you do not sell your house to cover your care costs you would be expected to contribute by using up any income, savings or assets you have.
