Help With the Cost of Care

Money and love overlap greatly when making a decision about care, and it is an uncomfortable conversation. Families tell us they feel guilty for thinking about cost at all, as though putting a figure on care somehow reduces what they feel for the person needing it. It does not. Understanding the money is part of looking after someone properly, and the families who find this easiest are usually the ones who asked the awkward questions early.

You will find the system is more complicated than it needs to be, with different rules depending on where you live and what your relative owns. Very little of it is obvious from the outside, and there is no shame in not knowing where to start.

It depends on two things: your relative’s care needs and their finances. A social worker assesses the care needed first, then a financial assessment reviews capital and income. That second stage is the means test.

In England, capital above £23,250 means paying the full cost. Below £14,250, capital is set aside and only income counts. Between the two, the council expects £1 a week for every £250 above the lower limit.

Wales is simpler. One threshold of £50,000. Above it your relative pays in full; below it, the council assesses income only.

Both figures have held for some years, though it is worth checking the current position with your council.

Not always, and not immediately. A property is counted in the means test, but it is set aside entirely if a husband, wife, partner, dependent child or other qualifying relative still lives there.

Where it does count, nobody is forced into a quick sale. The first 12 weeks of a permanent stay come with a property disregard, and the council contributes during that time. After that, a deferred payment agreement lets them place a charge on the property and cover fees until it is sold. Interest applies at a rate set by the government.

A word of caution. Companies offering to hold your property in trust, on the basis that it then sits outside the means test, rarely deliver. Councils can treat it as deliberate deprivation of assets and count the property anyway. Take independent advice first.

Depending on your relative’s circumstances, some of the cost may be covered from elsewhere. It is worth checking all of these before assuming the full fee falls to the family:

Nobody knows how long they will need care, and this worries families more than almost anything else.

Next of kin are not financially responsible for a relative who can no longer pay, unless they have signed a contract agreeing to cover fees or top-ups.

Under the Care Act 2014, councils must support people assessed as having eligible care needs. Request an updated assessment early rather than waiting for funds to run out.

We are a care provider, not a financial adviser, and decisions of this size deserve independent professional input. We would always recommend speaking to an adviser accredited by the Society of Later Life Advisers, who specialises in care fees and can talk you through options such as care annuities alongside any benefits you may be entitled to.