Deprivation of assets or income
Deprivation of assets or income refers to a person reducing or trying to hide or deprive themselves of capital to avoid paying towards the cost of their care. Examples of this are signing property, investments or assets over to relatives or giving large monetary gifts.
This can include placing a property in Trust; a legal device designed to hold assets on behalf of named beneficiaries. The law states that you must not place a property in trust to secure more financial assistance for adult social care. If the Council establishes that this is the case, the person will not qualify for financial assistance and will have to pay all the care home fees. If the person or their representative has been advised to place their savings or property in trust to protect their investments from being used to pay care home fees, they may have been given incomplete advice.
The Council will decide whether to investigate to ascertain if deprivation of income or assets has occurred where there are indicators as noted above. Where the Council determines that someone has deliberately deprived themselves of an asset or income to reduce or avoid a charge for care and support, the Council will charge for services as though the person still owns the asset or income.
The Council will take legal action against the person, their representative or the third party where appropriate to recover money owed for charges. This is in line with national guidance. Financial assistance is strictly means -tested and therefore if the Council considers that you have placed your house (or any of your assets) in trust to avoid paying care fees, it will be decided that you have deprived yourself of your assets to take advantage of state financial assistance and you will not qualify for financial support.