A recent ruling by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has reiterated the test that local authorities should apply when deciding if an asset such as a property has been purposely gifted to deprive assets.
Current Legislation (Care Act 2014) states if someone has capital assets over the upper capital limit (currently £23,250), they are expected to pay the full cost of their residential care home fees. If their capital is below this, then the local authority will contribute towards their care costs.
The Ombudsman identifies this test as:
If avoiding paying for care fees was a significant motivating factor
Whether a need for care was foreseeable
Whether a need to pay for care was foreseeable
We have specially created an assessment service to provide evidence of your decision making when making any large gift, that could be deemed as a deprivation of assets later down the road.
We complete an adult social care assessment in-line with the Care Act (2014) to identify your care needs at the specific time of making the gift, this way evidencing whether a need for care was foreseeable and thus whether a need to pay for care was foreseeable.
Expert Mental Capacity Assessors - Care Consultancy - Financial Vulnerability
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