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Care for the Elderly

Livingstons - Care for the Elderly

Approaching retirement people look forward to having the time and money to do all the things they have always dreamed of.

After all those years of hard work and saving, it would be nice to feel secure in your retirement and have sufficient money to fulfil your dream, whilst ensuring that your children inherit your home and hard earned savings.

Unfortunately, this is not always straightforward and many children find that a large proportion of their inheritance has to be used to pay Inheritance Tax, or that it has already been eaten up by care home fees.

Livingstons Solicitors has built up its practice by not only looking after their clients well, but by recognising the need for specialised legal advice from lawyers who have developed an in depth knowledge of their particular area of law.

“One of the fastest growth areas for us in the last fifteen years has been helping clients plan for a comfortable retirement” says Livingstons’ Director, Simon Hollis. Simon is the
head of department for Wills, probate, taxation and care for the elderly. In recent years the department has doubled in size and now has three full time Solicitors and six support staff.

Nursing Home Care

Last year approximately 100,000 homes had to be sold to pay for the cost of long term care for their elderly owners. If from April 9th 2007 you have over £21,500 in assets you will be
expected to meet the full cost of your care and this may mean selling your home.
If you have assets between £13,000 and £21,500 you will be expected to make some contribution from your capital as well as your income, and even if you have less than £13,000 you will still be expected to contribute to your care home fees from your income.
We can advise about care home fees and the best ways to deal with the problem.

Enduring Powers of Attorney

We can also help clients to make adequate provision for their old age by drawing up an Enduring Power of Attorney, which allows them to choose an Attorney who can act on their behalf and manage all of their financial affairs if they become unable to do so
themselves. If a person becomes incapable of looking after their own financial affairs and they have not signed an Enduring Power of Attorney, in order for someone else to deal with their affairs an application must be made to the Court of Protection and this can be a lengthy and expensive process.

Inheritance Tax Planning

Inheritance Tax is now an issue for many people. If you own assets with a value in excess of £300,000 your estate may be liable to Inheritance Tax, which is charged at 40%.
Livingstons save clients thousands of pounds of Inheritance Tax every year by careful planning. This means looking at their Wills, using lifetime gifts to dispose of surplus assets and write in trust the family assets to avoid the tax man taking a share of their hard earned wealth.

 

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