Older people will let feel let down that there is little in the Budget for them, especially nothing to end the worry about the unlimited cost of old age care, says Andrew Simpson, Lead Panel Solicitor with legal and financial planning specialist Ensure Inheritance.
“George Osborne missed the opportunity to introduce his long promised and much delayed cap on personal care fees in the Budget, which would have allowed people to make plans for their long term care and reduce the widely held fear of being forced to sell the family home to pay for it,” says Mr Simpson.
“With current legislation demanding that anyone owning assets valued in excess of £23,250 is required to make a 100% contribution towards the cost of their care, it’s no wonder that this a major concern for older people.
“Although this legislation also prevents people from deliberately moving their assets in order to avoid paying care fees, it is possible to protect the family home by using a Wealth Preservation Trust, provided the owner is in relatively good health and not presently intending going into long term care, and has genuine concerns about who will benefit from their assets.
“Unfortunately the lack of a care fees cap has meant that there has been little provision or take-up of insurance products for care, so establishing a trust for estate planning purposes is being increasingly used by people keen to avoid sacrificing the family home to pay for their care.”
Ensure Inheritance has produced a booklet which provides further information on Wealth Preservation Trusts. For a free copy, please contact Ensure Inheritance on tel. 0191 338 5143, via email at info@ensureinheritance.co.uk or via its website www.ensureinheritance.co.uk
Based in Seaham in County Durham, Ensure Inheritance provides a range of legal and financial planning services which help protect financial assets to provide their clients and their loved ones with peace of mind. In addition to long term care planning and wealth preservation trusts, services include Wills and Estate planning, funeral planning, inheritance tax planning, powers of attorney, court of protection deputyships, and probate.