Pensioner couple need advice on a new will

wotsallthis

Hello All, just joined

We have two children, a London house and a house that we rent. 

What do we do about avoiding care home fees please and would seeking professional advice be wise and if so where to go?

Keep well

MallyGirl

Hi - be prepared for the fact that this will open the proverbial can of worms.
Care home fees need to be paid for by someone so trying to avoid paying when you have the means is not a popular approach. 

Have a read about 'deprivation of assets'.

Silvertabby

Would your children really want you to be placed in 'cheap' council run homes, perhaps miles apart if you have different needs, when you have the means to pay for somewhere decent?

xylophone

What do we do about avoiding care home fees 

 Whatever arrangement you may make specifically to obtain or increase means tested benefits is likely to fail under the "Deprivation of assets/capital/income rules".

https://www.carehome.co.uk/advice/deprivation-of-assets-to-avoid-paying-for-care-home-fees

Marcon

wotsallthis said:

  

What do we do about avoiding care home fees please and would seeking professional advice be wise and if so where to go?

You don't avoid them, you plan for the possibility - and the likelihood of your needing to go into care is remote, so think hard before you shell out for so-called 'advice' or any other 'help'. 

This may make helpful reading: https://money.radiotimes.com/retirement/hold-onto-your-house/

comeandgo

Can I suggest you visit a private home and visit one where the funded people go and see which one you would prefer.

Sea_Shell

I'd suggest no convoluted plan to "try" and avoid paying car home fees.

What I would suggest is to look into selling the rental so funds are available in liquid assets, as you move through retirement.  Not to mention the potential issues in remaining a landlord as you age (hassle you don't need)

That way you have access to the money as and when it's needed, without being under time pressure to sell.

Mojisola

wotsallthis said:

We have two children, a London house and a house that we rent. 

What do we do about avoiding care home fees please and would seeking professional advice be wise and if so where to go?

It isn't wise to work out a system where you end up in council paid-for care.

I was really grateful that we had the money from Dad's house to fund his care.  I couldn't have let him move into the only local home that accepted council funded residents - the minimal care that the low rate covered really stood out in comparison to the other homes.

If you want to ensure that your children inherit something from you, you can own your home as tenants in common rather than joint tenants and each leave their 50% of the property to the children rather than the surviving spouse.

TVAS

The Welfare State was designed allowing for the fact that people would retire at 65 and drop dead at 70. It was not designed for people living for 30 or 40 years beyond retirement in large numbers and when a recent Tory government said people need to pay a contribution for long term care, they lost their majority.

If you do not want to pay for your care home costs who do you want to pay others younger than you that cannot even afford to buy their own home let alone have two? 

You seem to be implying rather tan being explicit that you want to pass on your property to your children which I completely understand. After all we don't work hard for ourselves, we do it for our spouse and children.

Equity Release.
You could borrow on the property to release the care home fees. If you have a pension you could repay the interest and capital or you could let the interest roll up. On the death of the last survivor the lender takes the property to repay the amount owed. The kids could pay the mortgage half each. If you explore this route you will need an adviser, read the documentation, probably have your kids to assist you, contact Age Concern and the Money Advice Service so you get the right products.  

Some traditional lenders such as Ipswich BS take pension income to support a mortgage and the rates are probably cheaper than Equity Release. 

Keep_pedalling

There is only one way, and that is to persuade one or both of your children to take on that burden if needed. Personally I would not inflict that on my children, nor do I want to end up in “Over my dead body grange” so I prefer put the possibility of needing expensive care into my long term financial planning.

Thrugelmir

wotsallthis said:

What do we do about avoiding care home fees please 

Few people actually end up in one.