When you have worked hard all your life, you hope to have something to pass on to your family - but then it’s all eaten up paying for Care fees!

Care planning for people living in Middlesex is an important consideration, as individuals living in Middlesex with assets above the current threshold of £22,250 are expected to fund their Care costs in full. Unless you have liquid assets i.e. cash available, Middlesex County Council will put a charge on your home or force its sale. But things don’t have to work out this way.

The majority of couples don't understand that it’s possible to protect their Middlesex family home by changing the way in which they own it, ensuring they pass it on to their family.

It is also important to know that a person living in Middlesex is only responsible for providing for the costs of their own Care planning, not for those of their partner/spouse.

Care planning can help people living in Middlesex. However, if a surviving spouse or partner lives there, houses in Middlesex will be deferred provisionally in assessing affordability for Care planning. This rule also applies to any relatives aged 60 or over who live in the same property.

Middlesex County Council are liable for the county’s funding Care and as legislation may change in the future, it is also very important to consider Care planning as early as possible. Care planning will involve severance of tenancy of any property held in Middlesex.

Irrespective of Care planning considerations this is by far the best way to direct assets for your beneficiaries. All property in Middlesex should be held in this way and each person’s share directed via a Will into Trust for the couple’s beneficiaries. The main consideration for this kind of planning and should be done at the time of making your Wills to ensure the home remains in the family bloodline for generations to come. Dying without a Will creates huge problems for your dependents, so writing a Will really can’t be done soon enough.

If a son or a daughter living in Middlesex, lives with their parents and both parents go into Care what will happen about paying for Care?

If the property belongs wholly to the parents, to recoup the cost of Care when it’s sold, Middlesex County Council can take a charge against the property.

Liquid assets such as Cash, Stocks and Shares, Bank and Building Society accounts, PEPS, ISAs, etc in addition to any other revenue will be assessed to pay for Care in Middlesex.

Rather than paying for Care in Middlesex, it is cautious planning that can help guard these assets for future generations.

It is just as pertinent to guard Care planning assets in neighbouring counties/areas like Hertfordshire, North West London or Buckinghamshire.

Care Planning is not regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is available on a referral basis through a preferred specialist supplier of Frog Financial Management and not First Complete Ltd. Frog Financial Management is not responsible for the advice given.