Could anyone give me some information on how to prevent losing your home due to care home costs
If your partner has to co into residential care then your home is completely disregarded because you need to live there so your home is safe.
yes my hubby went into care and i still live in our house they cant take it away as you need some where to live. the funding for care like this is they take all the partners state pension and half of his private pension
What happens if the one in care dies and the one left in the house then wants to move. Does the LA take what is owing when they move?
No. There is no debt accruing in that situation so there is nothing owed.
Hello Jennifer, can you expand on that for me. I am not sure I understand. Thanks
Jennifer is in the USA so may not see your question for a while so I will answer on her behalf, hope you don't mind Jennifer.
When one half of a couple goes into care the value of the home is completely disregarded, it is treated as if it does not exist. So when the person in care dies then there is nothing to pay. This of course will be very different should the second partner ever require care. The house will be counted as an asset and available for paying care.
Hope I have explained it as well as Jennifer would have.
If the house is owned by tenants in common then that is another story.
May I ask a question?
If a partner is just that ie a single adult in a relationship, and the couple are sharing and living in the house together - is the situation the same? I mean NOT a spouse or civil partner - not married; no legal contract entered into?
Is it that the couple jointly own the house, or are legally a couple, that is significant?
Just wondering.
This is as it was explained to me by my solicitor Diannie:
They recommended that the house needed to be owned as Tenants in Common so that my half of the value of the house was protected (and could be willed to my children) should I die first.
If my husband has to go into care then the LA will put a charge against his half of the property. They have to allow me to live in the property or even sell it and buy something more suitable with the proceeds but once I die they will take their share.
Should the house be owned jointly rather than as Tenants in Common then the LA would not be able to put a charge against it if the first spouse goes into care, but of course you run the risk of the whole value of the property being taken should you predecease your husband.
Hope this is clear, as I say this is how I understand it, but it's best to talk to a solicitor. They often offer a free half hour to carers.
Esmeralda, this part of your reply is incorrect.If my husband has to go into care then the LA will put a charge against his half of the property. They have to allow me to live in the property or even sell it and buy something more suitable with the proceeds but once I die they will take their share.