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.
Related: Probate
Probate Solicitors
Grant of probate, estate administration and executor support.
Applying for Probate
How to apply for a grant of probate — step by step.
Full Estate Administration
We manage the entire process from asset valuation to final distribution.
Executor Advice
Practical guidance for executors — duties, liability and family disputes.
Do I Need Probate?
When probate is required and when it is not.
Probate Fees
Transparent pricing for probate and estate administration.
Related: Lasting Power of Attorney
Lasting Power of Attorney
Appoint someone you trust to manage your affairs if you lose capacity.
Types of LPA
Property & Financial Affairs vs Health & Welfare — which do you need?
Making an LPA
Step-by-step guide to making a lasting power of attorney.
LPA Costs
Solicitor fees, OPG registration fees and what affects the total cost.
Registering an LPA
How to register an LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian.
Court of Protection
If a loved one has lost capacity without an LPA, a Court of Protection order may be needed.
Common Questions
Case study: The Coopers — what happens without planning
Derek and Margaret Cooper. Home (joint tenants): £380,000. Savings: £60,000. No property protection trust wills in place.
£1,298
Average weekly care cost (2026)
£67,500
Average annual care cost
£23,250
Means-test threshold (England)
No cap
£86,000 cap scrapped July 2024
❌ No planning — joint tenancy, no trust wills
Children inherit: ~£42,500
The entire family home sold to fund care.
✓ Property protection trust wills — two steps
Children inherit: ~£190,000
Derek's trust passes to children intact.
The difference proper planning makes
£147,500 more
Same care received · Same costs met · Half the home permanently protected by two simple steps
The two steps — and why both matter
Sever your joint tenancy
Do this firstConvert your home from joint tenancy to tenants in common. This creates two separate half-shares. Without this step, a will trust cannot work — the whole property passes automatically to the survivor regardless of what the will says.
Each will places your half into a property trust on death
Both willsNot to the survivor outright — into a trust. The survivor retains the right to live there for life. On their death, the trust capital passes to your children. This is what protects the half-share from the surviving spouse's care home means test.
Act now — trusts only work in good health
Property protection trusts must be put in place while both partners have mental capacity. Once one partner has lost capacity or entered care, the planning window closes. The 12-week disregard (home ignored for first 12 weeks of permanent care) is the last opportunity to take urgent advice — use it.
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.
Related reading
Can Care Home Fees Take Your Home?
The Cooper family case study — how a property protection trust will saved £147,500 from the care funding means test.
Read the full articleRequest a free initial consultation
Tell us about your situation and we will explain your options — no obligation, costs clear from the outset.