Wills, Trusts & Estates · Care Fee Planning
Part of our wider Wills, Trusts & Estates services
Care Fee Planning — Protecting Your Home & Assets
Care home fees can cost £50,000 or more per year. Without planning, the home and assets you have spent a lifetime building can be consumed entirely by care costs — leaving nothing for your family.
We advise on legitimate planning strategies to protect your assets from care home costs and means testing — including trust structures, tenants in common arrangements, and Lasting Powers of Attorney. Chester-based, acting across Cheshire, North Wales and England and Wales.
No obligation — talk through your options first. Costs explained clearly.
How care home means testing works
Capital threshold (England)
£23,250
Below this, local authority may contribute
Full self-funding threshold
£100,000+
Typical care home costs per year
Average care home stay
2.5 years
Residential care
Your home is included in the means test unless your spouse or a dependent relative lives there. Planning ahead — before care is needed — is essential.
Planning strategies we advise on
Tenants in common and will trusts
If you own your home jointly, severing the joint tenancy and leaving your share in a life interest trust in your will can protect half the property from means testing when the surviving spouse needs care. This is one of the most commonly used and legally robust strategies.
Lasting Power of Attorney
An LPA for property and financial affairs is essential for care fee planning. Without one, your family may need to apply to the Court of Protection to manage your affairs — a costly and time-consuming process.
Lifetime trust planning
Transferring assets into a trust during your lifetime can protect them from means testing — but only if done well in advance and not as a deliberate deprivation of assets. We advise on the rules and the risks.
Deliberate deprivation advice
Local authorities can look back at asset transfers and treat them as still belonging to you if they were made to avoid care fees. We advise on what is and is not permissible — and on the timing of any planning.
Interaction with IHT planning
Care fee planning and inheritance tax planning often overlap. We advise on strategies that address both — ensuring your estate plan is coherent and effective.
The team advising on care fee planning
Laura Kirton
Wills & Probate Solicitor · 10 Years Qualified
Care Fee PlanningLaura regularly advises clients on care fee planning — including the use of trusts, tenants in common arrangements, and Lasting Powers of Attorney to protect assets from care home costs and means testing.
Darren Steele
Senior Private Client Executive · STEP Member
Trust & Care Fee PlanningDarren advises clients on trust structures and estate planning strategies that can protect assets from care home costs — while ensuring the planning is legally robust and does not constitute deliberate deprivation of assets.
David Stahler
Wills, Trusts & Estates Executive
Estate PlanningDavid is our first point of contact for clients enquiring about care fee planning. He brings a warm, empathetic approach to what is often a deeply personal and urgent conversation.
Nikolina Vukovic
Legal Executive — Wills, Trusts & Estates
Wills & Estate AdministrationNikolina supports clients and their families through care fee planning — including the administration of estates where care home costs have been a significant factor.
Related estate planning services
Trusts
Life interest and protective trust structures.
Lasting Power of Attorney
Essential planning for loss of capacity.
Court of Protection
Deputyship and Court of Protection applications.
Wills
Wills that incorporate care fee planning strategies.
Disabled Beneficiaries
Protecting vulnerable beneficiaries through specialist trusts.
Landlords
Protecting investment property from care home costs.
Protect what you've built.
Speak to a specialist about care fee planning. Legitimate strategies to protect your home and assets — costs explained clearly before any work begins.
No obligation — talk through your options first. Chester, Cheshire & North Wales.
Request a free initial consultation
Tell us about your situation and we will explain your options — no obligation, costs clear from the outset.