“I don’t have to pay care fees as I put the property in trust”
At Steene Law, specialists in social care law, we receive many calls and emails from people telling us that they have seen adverts on the internet saying if they transfer their spouse’s or parents’ property into a trust, one of the benefits of the trust is the avoidance of paying for residential care.
Our response is, after a few questions, that sadly all they have done is waste anywhere between £3,000
and £8,000 in buying a couple of dozen sheets of paperwork that local authorities are going to ignore and treat such transfers as a deliberate deprivation of assets. Worse, some of the trusts that we have seen could require an order of the court to unwind them or there could be very large tax bills as a result of unregulated companies ripping off vulnerable people.
Call us now 0203 653 0623 or complete a Free Online Enquiry and we will tell you the next steps you need to take and how we can help you.
In contrast, most recently, we were asked how we could assist, and we identified that the lady about to go into care would almost certainly be entitled to have the entire value of the property disregarded. It was our view that a discretionary property disregard would almost certainly have to be decided in favour of the applicant and thus the entire equity in the property could be saved.
We are aware that many people are enticed into buying trusts, however, when a person has to go into care, the local authority is obliged to complete a financial assessment (means test) and one of the questions that we have seen asked is “have you transferred a property or placed it into a trust, please provide a copy of the transfer or trust documents and any financial or legal advice you received prior to its creation”.
The key point to note here is it is not only the trust the local authority is interested in seeing, but they want to see, and are entitled to see, all emails, phone notes made by the solicitors and financial advisor as to why the trust was created. Even if there is a one line amongst 50 pages of communications that says that one of the advantages of the trust being made was that care fees could be avoided, almost certainly a local authority will treat the purchase of the trust as a deliberate deprivation. The care fees will be charged even if the house is transferred into a trust and the costs of making the trust will be wasted. Almost certainly the company who sold it will not be regulated and there will be no recourse against the company who has taken the money for the trust.
In contrast, the clients who we advised to apply for a property disregard care fees , and we have in the past succeeded, have been delighted.
If you have a family member about to go into care, please don’t buy some product that you don’t understand, give us a call and it may well be that there are grounds which are lawful for avoiding losing the family home.
Make A Free Enquiry
Steene Law specialise in elderly care law. Please do not delay, please call us now 0203 653 0623, email reception@steenelaw.co.uk or complete a Free Online Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
We are available from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday.
“I became aware that David and Dianne Steene at Steene Law Ltd were experts in Office of Public Guardian (OPG) investigations. They guided me through a complex process to a completely successful outcome and it is clear that both David and Dianne not only have a depth and breadth of understanding in mental capacity law/Office of the Public Guardian/Court of Protection but also they are prepared to go that extra mile”
GC