Personal Solicitors Ipswich – Caring for Mum and Dad

The Tonight programme on BBC1 last night was on the subject of the care crisis in the UK and the new Care Bill which is currently making its way through Parliament.

Currently if a person owns more than £23,250 of assets, including the value of their home, then they will pay the full costs of their care, which on average works out at approximately £30,000 per annum.

The new Care Bill introduces a cap on costs for care of £72,000 and raises the upper means test limit from £25,250 to £118,000.  However, there are two limitations to the cap:

• It only applies to “personal care costs” not “general living costs” i.e. the element of your care which relates to accommodation will not be counted towards the cap;

• Only the element of your “personal care costs” that would have been funded by the Local Authority will be included in your cap, so if you choose your care home and the Local Authority decide that you could receive care in a cheaper care home, then only the amount which the Local Authority would pay if they were funding you will count towards the cap.

Overall it is estimated that you will have to spend considerably more than £72,000 to receive care funded by the state, if you ever qualify.  The Care Bill is due to be implemented in 2016.

The important thing is to plan ahead and not to leave planning for care until it’s a crisis.

Lindsey Sharples is a solicitor in the private client team at Barker Gotelee, Solicitors in Ipswich.

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