It is not surprising that few of us have considered what the effect might be on our savings and investments, or even our home, if we ever needed residential care later in life.
Most people assume that we will pass on our assets to our children or other relatives in due course, yet this may not always be the case unless careful arrangements have been made to protect our assets from being taken to pay care home fees.
If you use a will trust and your partner dies, you as the surviving spouse retain a right to live in the house. If you need to move into residential care, only your share is assessed by the local authority.
The part owned by the trust is not counted. In this way it is protected from care home costs. Government rules (Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide) suggest that this arrangement will not be contested as 'deliberate deprivation', meaning that you have deliberately split your assets to avoid paying high care home fees.