Can I use a Will to Protect my Estate from Care Home Fees?
Posted on 28th October 2023
Our Lytham solicitors get asked this question at least once a week. The fact of the matter is this: if you do not plan correctly, you risk the possibility of losing the equity in your home to pay for your care fees in the future. However, there are things that you can do to protect your home through a Will.
As you can imagine, each case is different, with every one of us having different assets, and funds, that we intend to leave to others in our Will. However, please do not to worry- our team of Will Solicitors in Lytham know exactly what needs to be included in your Will in order to protect your home. If you wish to discuss this with us or arrange an appointment, please contact our Solicitors in Lytham 01253 202452.
Contact our Wills Solicitors in Lytham
Are you at risk of losing your home to care fees?
Paying for care fees in the future could reduce the value of your assets which you wish to leave to your loved ones after you have died. We at MG Legal understand how important it is for your assets to pass to your family and loved ones, which is why our Will writing Solicitors specialise in ensuring your estate is protected and therefore passes to the people you want it to.
The following example shows how you can lose your home to care fees if you have not adequately planned:
Mr & Mrs Jones’ joint estate was worth approximately £200,000.0. Most of their estate was made up of their home, which was worth £175,000.00, and they had £25,000.00 worth of savings. They wanted to plan their estate and made standard mirror Wills initially leaving everything to each other, and when they had both died, divided equally between their children.
Sadly, several years later Mrs Jones passed away and the whole of her estate passed to her husband, Mr Jones. Mr Jones was able to live on his own in the house for a few years, but unfortunately then required assistance, so he moved into residential care.
The local authority assessed Mr Jones’ assets and they totalled £200,000.00; this was above the £23,250.00 threshold, so he was required to pay the full amount of his care fees. The residential care fees totalled £40,000.00 a year, and his family home had to be sold to pay these fees. Mr Jones resided in the care home for 4 years before he sadly passed away, during which time the care home costs added up to £160,000.00. When Mr Jones died his estate was worth £40,000.00, which his children inherited; much less than initially anticipated when the Wills were made.
Call us
01253 202 452
Email us
Visit us
Find your local office, here
Our team are available from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, or out-of-hours by appointment.
Request a callback
Protecting your home from care fees using a trust in your Will
The above scenario is unfortunately something that happens all too often, but do not worry as there is a way to protect some of your assets, by making a Will which protects each joint owner’s share of their home from being depleted by the other's care fees, and ensures your loved ones benefit from your estate, as you intended.
Our Wills solicitors in Lytham can advise that including a trust in your Will allows your surviving spouse, civil partner, or cohabitee to benefit from your estate after you have died. The benefit of this is that if your spouse requires care and undergoes a financial assessment, the assets that are held in trust will not be taken into account and are therefore protected from being spent on care fees.
When you speak to one of our Will Writing Solicitors, they will need to ascertain how your property is owned. Under English law, there are two ways to jointly own your property: joint tenants, or tenants in common. How you own your property makes a big difference to whether you can create a trust in your Will.
When you own a property as joint tenants, the property automatically passes to your surviving joint owner, and not under the terms of your Will. This also means that the property will form part of your significant other’s assets and will be taken into consideration when they undergo a care home fee assessment.
However, owning a property as tenants in common means that each person owns a specific share of the property, often 50%, but sometimes other unequal shares, and therefore the property does not automatically pass to the surviving joint owner. Instead, the share passes under the first owner to die’s Will, and can be left in trust. Such a trust can enable the surviving co-owner to live in the property, subject to conditions, and only when they permanently move out is the property sold, with the deceased owner’s share of the sale proceeds being paid to the intended beneficiaries.
If your property is owned as joint tenants and you wish to include a trust in your Will, our Wills solicitors in Lytham can assist with changing the ownership of the property to tenants in common, and thereafter finalise your property trust Wills.
How the Trust Would Work
If Mr & Mrs Jones owned their property as tenants in common, and each owned a half share, they could use a Will Trust to protect their respective shares. Therefore, with advice from our Will Writing Solicitors, Mrs Jones could have placed her half share of the property into a trust, whilst also allowing Mr Jones to continue living in the property.
The value of Mrs Jones’ share of the property is £87,500.00. When Mr Jones is means tested for care fees, this £87,500.00 is held in a trust, and therefore is not counted as part of his assets. In this scenario, Mr Jones’ estate is worth less, being made up of his half share of the house and his available cash. Over the years where Mr Jones is in care, his estate is depleted by care fees, until there is only £23,250.00 remaining, at which point he is eligible for assistance with his care fees.
When Mr Jones sadly dies, his £23,250.00 is inherited by his children. However, in this scenario, Mr and Mrs Jones’ children also have the benefit of receiving Mrs Jones’ half share of the property that was held in a trust. Therefore, their children inherit significantly more than the £40,000.00 they would have inherited if the half share of the property was not placed into a trust.
If protecting the value of your estate is important to you and your family, why not get in touch with our expert Wills Solicitors in Lytham, who can advise you on including a trust in your Will to protect your estate, just like the example above. And remember, MG Legal’s Wills solicitors in Lytham offer home visits, and out-of-hours appointments, upon request. MG Legal, your local solicitors.
Are MG Legal "Wills Solicitors in Lytham"?
Yes- our team of Wills Solicitors at MG Legal are now in Lytham. Whilst our clients in Lytham have certainly used us for many years, they will be pleased to know that they now have an office on their doorstep. At MG Legal, we pride ourselves on our excellent service- with hundreds of 5 star reviews from our repeating clients- and transparent fixed-fees, so our clients know where they stand with the costs of their matter from the beginning. Our Wills Solicitors in Lytham are available for face-to-face, video, and telephone appointments, or can even visit you at your home, if required. We like to try and help as many people have access to our Wills Solicitors in Lytham as possible, so if you- like us- are busy during office hours, we offer out-of-hours appointments.
Why choose MG Legal's Wills Solicitors in Lytham?
Transparent fees.
We are the experts.
Multiple Office Locations.
Give us a call any time.
How much do Wills Solicitors in Lytham charge?
Our Wills Solicitors in Lytham offer fixed fees for preparing Wills:
Single Wills
30 minute appointment to discuss your requirements for your Will, and your wishes.
Preparation of your draft Will, and making reasonable amendments (if required)
Arranging signature of your final Will
Storage of your final Will
Registration of your Will with Certainty, the National Will Register (if required)
Does not include any additional work required, such as full advice about inheritance tax or the inclusion of trust provisions in your Will.
£175.00 plus VAT for simple single Wills. If you include trust provisions, the fees can be higher. Please contact us for your bespoke quote.
Mirror Wills
30 minute appointment to discuss your requirements for your Wills, and your wishes
Preparation of your draft Wills, and making any amendments (as required)
Completion of your final Wills
Storage of your final Wills
Does not include any additional work required, such as full advice about inheritance tax or the inclusion of trust provisions in your Wills.
£325.00 plus VAT for simple mirror Wills. If you include trust provisions, the fees can be higher. Please contact us for your bespoke quote.
Contact Us Today:
Or give us a call on 01253 202 452.
Clear, fixed-fees
Fully-Qualified Solicitors
Tailored Service
Multiple Office Locations
Decades of Experience
Home Visits
Tagged as: Solicitors in Lytham, Wills
Share this post: