When a person moves into a care home the local Council will carry out a financial assessment to establish whether they are eligible for assistance with their care home fees.
As part of their assessment the Council will be checking if there has been what is known as a “deprivation of assets”, in other words has that person reduced their assets deliberately in order to avoid paying for care home fees. This would include actions such as gifting large sums of money or a property to a family member.
There is no time limit as to how far back a Council can check for deprivation of assets. The test they will need to apply is:
- Did that person know or ought to have reasonably known that they would need care at the time of giving away their asset
- Was the primary reason for reducing their assets to avoid paying care home fees or the reducing the amount they would need to pay for care home fees
Timing and intention are therefore important factors when considering if there has been a deprivation of assets.
If the Council finds that there has been a deliberate deprivation of assets then those assets will be treated as still belonging to that person, as part of the financial assessment. This could result in the receiving party of that asset, being liable to pay the care home fees.
If you disagree with their decision, a complaint can be made with evidence supporting there has been no deliberate deprivation of assets.
If you are currently in dispute with the Council regarding an allegation of deprivation of assets or you are considering making lifetime gifts but are unsure as to whether this may result in a future allegation of deprivation of assets, please do not hesitate to contact us to arrange a fixed fee initial consultation to discuss your matter in more detail