I am not one for the Sunday papers, but an email alerted me to this one - The “deliberate deprivation of assets” rule came under the microscope recently. It warned that gifting money or assets can be reviewed in cases where individuals have an illness which increases the risk of care in a care home and so impact on the capital they would have available at that time.
For example, a diagnosis of dementia before assets are given away will allow the local authority to claw them back, whatever the timescale. But that on its own is not the full story.
The high cost of care can be a real headache for so many people. Some will look to use capital to help their family. The particular article mentioned above reports that local authorities are clawing back money if they believe and can show that cash and other assets are being deliberately depleted to avoid funding care by invoking the deliberate deprivation of assets clause. That is certainly our experience here. The article makes it clear that some individuals believe that the seven year rule which applies to gifts in respect of Inheritance Tax will apply to care funding too. It does not.
You need to know the rules and how they apply. Come and talk to us about the planning opportunities open to you. Just because the Sunday Paper say it, it does not mean it is true for you.