Hi Jutta and thank you so much for reaching out with an excellent question about care fees and gifts in your will to charity. I think there is perhaps a much bigger picture for you to consider, not least what assets comprise your estate, and that of your husband.

Firstly, do remember that local authority funding only kicks in when capital falls below the threshold set at any particular time (£23,250 at the moment). Remember also that if you are looking for your local authority to ‘pick up the tab’ for your husband’s care, then you must also accept that any choice on where that care is received is removed too – the local authority will decide. Is that something you would want?

The subject matter you touch on regarding care costs is known as ‘deliberate deprivation of assets’. This is where assets have been deliberately depleted to try to then get local authority funding.

Do remember that not all assets pass via our wills anyway. So for example, property held as joint tenants passes automatically to the surviving owner(s), as do things like joint bank accounts. So you would need to be mindful of this. READ MORE ABOUT ASSETS PASSING OUTSIDE OF YOUR WILL

The critical question is whether the local authority could challenge your will, and if so on what basis? Have a look at our article on challenging wills. HOW TO CONTEST A WILL

As you will see from the article, a will can be challenged for one of two reasons: (1) not executed or made correctly; or (2) adequate financial provision is not made for a family member. And ultimately, a local authority may calculate the means test as they see fit – by including assets they consider to have been deliberately got rid of.

If you haven’t already, do consider making Lasting Power of Attorney. Arguably, this is something that may be needed for any Will? We can help with this remotely and the process is very quick, easy, and cost effective. MAKE AN LPA >