01/10/2009 'TAKE CARE WITH CARE HOME FEES' IN ORDER TO SAFEGUARD THE FAMILY HOME
The Law Society have recently highlighted the risk that care home fees can leave the elderly with little or nothing to bequeath to loved ones in their wills.
With care fees on average being estimated at £470 per week, by Age Concern / Help the Aged, the Law Society has warned that many wills could need reviewing as assets are depleted.
Ken Curtis, partner with Nottingham Solicitors, Curtis Parkinson, explains 'If you have left specific items, monies or property to people and these have been eaten into; it may be that your Will does not cater for this eventuality. For example; if when you made your Will you had £50K savings and a house worth £100K and you left the house to the children and the savings to the grandchildren, the children would get the bulk of your estate. If the house then had to be sold to pay for care fees, this may mean that the grandchildren get more than the children do – clearly this was not the original intent. If your circumstances have altered, you need to get your Will checked to ensure that your wishes are catered for now and for the future'.
There has been much publicity about ‘blood line wills’ and ‘ring-fencing’ of the family home. Essentially, if you have two people that own the house and you leave everything to each other outright the whole of the property can be at risk against care fees. The way to protect this is to place half the property on first death into trust; permitting the survivor a right of occupation and right to move but with the money value of the share being held for the ultimate beneficiaries. This means that if the survivor has to pay care fees that only their half can be used.
This is becoming a very popular Will essentially putting insurance in place against the eventuality that you are not able to fund care fees if required at a later date.
The additional benefit of this type of Will is to ensure that your half of the property is protected for the ultimate beneficiaries; if you have children from previous relationships and to protect against re-marriage.
Ken Curtis, who is also a member of SFE ( Solicitors for the Elderly ) and STEP ( Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners ), continues: "If you are considering this type of Will, even though it has become a standard form, you must ensure that someone experienced in this area of law correctly drafts it. Time and again badly drafted Wills have tried to create the above protection but failed, meaning not only that money has been paid to have the Will drafted but additional cost to rectify mistakes. Often there is no one to sue where errors have been made, as the company drafting the Will is no longer around. The benefit of using a local solicitor is that if they are no longer around then there is always the safety net of the Law Society for recompense".
For further information, please contact:
Ken Curtis
Curtis Parkinson Solicitors
Tel: 0115 931 7000
E-mail: ken.curtis@curtisparkinson.com