Paying for care as a financial attorney
Guidance from Estate Advisory Group
The financial assessment decides who pays. Your job is to get it done accurately and to protect the donor's position lawfully.
How the means test works
- The local authority assesses capital and income; the upper capital threshold in England is £23,250.
- The donor's home is disregarded while a spouse, or certain relatives, still live there.
- A deferred payment agreement can let care fees be charged against the home instead of forcing a sale.
- Check NHS Continuing Healthcare before assuming the donor must pay.
Deprivation of assets
Do not give assets away to avoid care fees
The local authority can treat the donor as still owning what was given away, and an attorney who does it is acting outside their authority as well as against the donor's interests. There is no time limit on this rule.
Top-up fees and contracts
If the family wants a more expensive home than the local authority will fund, someone must pay a third-party top-up — and it cannot come from the donor's own funds where the authority is funding. Never sign a care home contract in your own name; sign as attorney for the donor.
Common questions
Can I pay a relative from the donor's money for providing care?
Not without a court order or an express instruction in the LPA.
Should I buy a care fees annuity?
It can protect against a long stay, but take regulated advice and record why the decision is in the donor's interests.
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This is general information about how Lasting Powers of Attorney work in England and Wales. It is not legal advice about your situation. What we do and do not do.
Published by Estate Advisory Group