care home fees /property willed to children

Jowo_2

sandraroffey wrote: »

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my sister has just told me that she and her husband have each willed their half of the house to the children so that should the worse happen and they have to go into a care home, the house wont be able to be touched for purposes of care fees.

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The local council may put a charge on the property for deferred payment of the fees. As indicated previously, the will is irrelevant. If she does actually transfer ownership to her children during her lifetime, she can be treated as if she still owns it, plus if her children hit hard times and apply for benefits, they may struggle to get them as they are classed as property owners, also they may struggle to get mortgages in their own right.

If you google 'deprivation of capital' and care home fees, you will uncover a wealth of information that suggests that Local Authorities are well versed in uncovering strategies designed to maximise means tested benefits and services and may simply treat your sister as if she still has it.

"Where a local council Social Services believes that capital or ownership of a property was transferred with the intention of avoiding paying care home fees, the local council Social Services may decide that this amounts to ‘deprivation of capital’. If the local council Social Services makes this decision, it sees you as still having that capital or property and will include the full value in your financial assessment. ...he council and DWP will look at the reasons for giving away the capital and when this occurred. There is no time limit for this inspection either – meaning they can look as far back as they want. "

Mojisola

sandraroffey wrote: »

havent a clue. honestly. she seems adamant that the house is safe, but it seems that from most of the replies on here, its safe, UNTIL THEY DIE. then things change. i think. however, im going to leave her to it.

If one of them dies and the other needs residential care, there is some protection.

Until then, if one needed care while the other was still living in the house, the house would be disregarded.

The house would only be taken into account if they both needed residential care which is quite a rare event.