Couples and Care
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For ease of reading we have used the term married to also mean civil partners. The information below does not necessarily apply to couples that are living together but are not married or in a civil partnership.
Your circumstances
However, please do not proceed with anything before taking professional independent advice from our Care Planning Service.
Split Your Assets
In almost all situations it is a good idea not to hold any assets jointly so, if possible, and after taking professional advice, you may wish to separate your assets, including property ownership.
If assets are held jointly, one person is likely to subsidise the care of the other. Although this may mean that care is funded privately for longer, the main beneficiary could be your local authority!
Joint assets must be split equally, unless there is a provable reason why one person should take a greater part of a particular asset. Otherwise you could fall under the deprivation of assets rules.
Review Your Wills
Many people have ’mirror wills’ which give all of their assets to their surviving partner on their death. This may be your wish but you might also wish to consider whether you would want your share of the assets to be paid to a surviving partner to be used up in paying for care, especially if that meant that state care was refused Again, professional advice must be taken before proceeding further.
One Person In Care
If you are both moving into care you will be assessed and treated as two individuals, owning the specific assets that are in your name.
Where things become more complicated is where one person remains living in the family home, and this is what we concentrate on below.
Care Funding for Couples
If you are asking your local authority to fund your care their social services team will want to assess your financial situation and care needs. They are not entitled to ask about your spouses finances.
If you have less than the local authority funding limit your care will be arranged and funded as described in our state benefits section.
The local authority will take your state pension, attendance allowance and 50% of any private pension income. They will also ask you to pay a tariff income if your assets are over the lower funding limit.
If your spouse can afford to, they can agree to pay a third party top up, which may allow you to choose the care home.
If your spouse is left with a low income they may be able to claim pension credit.
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