Prepare for care.

If you or a loved one are looking into options around care home provision it must feel like there are 101 things to organise. A good Estate Planner can help you with at least a couple of the most pressing issues.

The worry of losing your home to long term care fees.

Care homes are expensive, the average UK monthly cost for residential care is £2816 (£33,792 per annum) and £3552 if receiving nursing care (£40,224 per annum), fees in our area are on the whole more expensive than the UK average.  You will have to pay if you have assets above £23,250, and should note that this includes the value of your home.  If you own your home, it is likely that you will be well above the threshold and will be expected to pay.

If you have a standard Will and don’t have savings, or your savings run out, there are likely scenarios that as a single person or as a couple – if at some stage both need to access care, you will need to sell your home, or have the Local Authority put a charge on it to finance your long term care.  

A good estate planner can offer you protection against this threat through Trusts to protect your home and allow it to be passed on to your beneficiaries.

Ensuring that someone you trust will be able to make vital decisions on your behalf rather than the possibility of a stranger doing so.

Having a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) set up prior to going into a care home will greatly help everyone involved with your care.  An LPA allows someone you trust to both:

• Manage your finances, in case you are not personally able to organise – as an example it will be important to ensure that all fees and costs are paid correctly and on time to avoid potential issues with your care home.  Your trusted person will also be able to make sure that your other financial obligations are managed correctly and your needs met.
• Make decisions regarding your health and welfare care when you are not able to.  This is not only a benefit for you to have someone you trust doing so, but also for the care home who will have a direct and quick contact to ask and ensure that any medical treatment for example, is provided correctly and quickly.

Changes to a Will or the setting up of LPAs can only be done if the recipient is deemed as sound of mind, or having the mental capacity to want to make and to understand what is being done.  You should also note that LPAs cannot be used until they are registered by The Office of the Public Guardian; at present this is taking up to 20 weeks to be done.  With the best will in the world, this work should be done long before it is actually needed, it is important to not delay and to get it done sooner rather than later.

We are more than happy to have a free chat if you have any concerns or questions in this area.  You can call us on 0118 948 4381 or get in touch via our contact page.