Deprivation of Assets

[ajandjjmum]

If one sibling uses some of a parent's assets to fund an extension to their home, purely to house that parent, could it be classed as deprivation of assets if it is known that the parent will need help from social services to fund their care if the medium term future?

Should that be the case, would just that sibling be liable to repay the funds, or could Social Services make all siblings - who also have POA - liable.

I realise we would need to take legal advice, but would be grateful for an overview. Thank you for any help.

The short answer is "possibly".

You can find some guidance on this area from the statutory guidance to the Care Act 2014, specifically Annex E: Deprivation of Assets: www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-statutory-guidance/care-and-support-statutory-guidance#AnnexE

The crucial paragraph is this: Deprivation of assets means where a person has intentionally deprived or decreased their overall assets in order to reduce the amount they are charged towards their care. This means that they must have known that they needed care and support and have reduced their assets in order to reduce the contribution they are asked to make towards the cost of that care and support. (emphasis mine)

Arguably, paying for an extension to their child's home in order to allow them to live with that child would not be a deliberate deprivation of assets in order to reduce the amount they are charged towards their care. Instead, the purpose is to give themselves a place to live with family, which might be necessary if they anticipate needing more help or care from their child in the future.

However, if the extension was very large or went far beyond what was necessary to house one extra person, then perhaps the council would decide that this was in fact a deliberate deprivation of the assets, as it is effectively a large gift to the child. They might also decide that spending the money might be a deliberate deprivation if the anticipation of needing care is imminent - therefore the sooner you act, the better.

This will likely be quite fact dependent - what are the plans for the extension, how soon is the parent anticipating needing care, does the child have enough room already, etc - so perhaps it may be worth a quick consultation with a lawyer. That said, if you are sure that care is at least a few years away and the extension plans/cost is reasonable then I wouldn't personally see the need to rack up solicitors fees.

You mention needing to repay the funds - I am not sure what you mean. If the council decides that your parent has deliberately deprived him/herself of the money, then they can deem him to still have the money, i.e. treat him as still having the £50,000 in his bank account. Therefore he may have to pay the full charge for his care, but there wouldn't be any money to 'pay back'.

It would also be a good idea to have a look at the relevant council's policies on funding care and deprivation of assets. Googling them should be enough.

Thank you Hont.

There is an immediate need, which one sibling is hoping to satisfy by building an extension to provide a 'granny flat', but plans haven't even been drawn yet so it is a way off.

In the meantime, the parent is receiving two visits a day from carers, which will need to be increased before too long - the OT suggests that they should not be on their own at all.

Our concern is that should say £70,000 of parents' money be spent on funding the extension, and social service funds be needed to pay for care 2/3 years later as personal assets had been used, would all POAs be responsible for finding the funds if Social Service deemed that deprivation of assets had occurred, or would it be just the sibling who had the extension built against the advice of the other POA.

It's tough - everyone wants the best but sees different ways of going about it!

It's a good idea to look at the Council's policy on funding care - that will be my next job!

Thank you again.