The question we hear most often from homeowners in their 60s and 70s is this: can the council take our home to pay for care? The honest answer is: it depends on your will. If your home is held as joint tenants and your will leaves everything to your spouse outright, the entire property can eventually be assessed for care funding — and may have to be sold. But with the right will structure put in place now, half the family home can be permanently protected from the means test. This article explains how the means test works, what the Cooper family case study shows, and the two steps every homeowner should take.
How the Care Funding Means Test Works
Local authorities in England use a means test to determine how much you must contribute to your own care costs. The key thresholds are: above £23,250 in capital, you self-fund everything; between £14,250 and £23,250, you pay a tariff contribution of £1 per week for every £250 of capital; below £14,250, the council funds your care (though your income is still assessed). Capital includes savings, investments, and — critically — the value of your home, unless an exemption applies.
When Is the Home Exempt from the Means Test?
Your home is disregarded from the means test if your spouse or civil partner still lives there, if a dependent child lives there, or if a relative aged 60 or over lives there. It is also disregarded for the first 12 weeks of permanent residential care. If none of these exemptions apply — for example, if both spouses are in care simultaneously, or if the surviving spouse enters care after the first spouse has died — the home is fully assessed and may have to be sold.
The £86,000 lifetime cap on care costs, which was due to come into force under the Care Act 2014, was scrapped in July 2024. There is currently no cap on care costs in England. Average weekly residential care costs in 2026 are £1,298 per week — approximately £67,500 per year.
The Cooper Family Case Study: £147,500 Difference
Derek and Margaret Cooper own their home jointly (value £380,000) and have savings of £60,000. They have no wills in place and hold the property as joint tenants.
Without Planning: Children Inherit £42,500
Derek enters care first. The home is disregarded because Margaret still lives there. Derek's care costs £67,500 per year for two years — £135,000 — exhausting the savings. Derek dies. Margaret later enters care. The home is now fully assessed at £380,000. Margaret's care costs £67,500 per year for three years — £202,500. The home must be sold to fund her care. After care costs, the children inherit approximately £42,500 from an estate that started at £440,000.
With Property Protection Trust Wills: Children Inherit £190,000
The same family takes two steps while both are in good health: they sever the joint tenancy (so each owns a half-share as tenants in common) and each makes a will placing their half into a property trust on death, with the survivor retaining the right to live there for life. Derek dies first. His half-share (£190,000) passes into the will trust — ring-fenced and not assessable for Margaret's care. Margaret enters care. Only her half of the property (£190,000) is assessed. Derek's trust share passes to the children on Margaret's death. The children inherit approximately £190,000 — £147,500 more than without planning. Same care received. Same costs met. Half the home permanently protected.
The property protection trust only works if it is put in place while both spouses are in good health and have mental capacity. Once one spouse has lost capacity or entered care, it is too late to implement this structure.
The Two Critical Steps
- Sever the joint tenancy — A joint tenancy means that on the first death, the property passes automatically to the survivor by survivorship — outside the will entirely. A will trust cannot work on a jointly-owned property. Severing the joint tenancy converts the ownership to tenants in common, giving each spouse a distinct half-share that can be placed into a trust by their will.
- Make wills with a property protection trust — Each will should place the deceased's half-share into a property trust on death. The surviving spouse retains the right to live in the property for life. On the survivor's death, the trust capital passes to the children. The trust share is not assessable for the survivor's care funding.
What About the 12-Week Disregard?
When a person first enters permanent residential care, their home is disregarded from the means test for the first 12 weeks. This window exists to allow families to make arrangements. If you have not yet put a property protection trust will in place, use this window to get urgent advice — though note that the trust structure must be in place before the first death, not after.
Deferred Payment Agreements
If the home must be assessed, you do not necessarily have to sell it immediately. A deferred payment agreement allows the local authority to pay your care fees and take a charge on the property, which is repaid when the property is eventually sold. This prevents a forced sale during your lifetime but does not protect the asset from the means test.
Is This Legal?
Yes — a property protection trust will is a legitimate estate planning tool. It is not a deliberate deprivation of assets (which local authorities can challenge) because the trust is created on death, not as a response to an imminent care need. The key is that the wills must be put in place while both spouses are in good health, not as a response to a care crisis.