Deprivation of assets

[CrimeJunkie01]

My uncle died 21 years ago and for reasons I'm not party to, my aunt signed her house over to my Dad and has a lifelong licence to live in it. Aunt and uncle had no children.

My aunt has recently got bad dementia and it looks likely that she will go into a nursing home at some point. She has about £6k in cash but little to no other assets. My question is: is this transfer of ownership 21 years ago likely to be treated as a deprivation of assets?

I am not a lawyer, so this is just a guess and a bump, but I would say no as it would be hard to prove that the primary reason for handing over the house was to avoid care costs, given it was done 21 years ago. I think there has to be reasonable expectation of care costs at the time. Has she been giving away income since then though, to keep her savings down?

No, she literally lives off a £126 a month private pension and her state pension plus pension credits.

Thanks for your reply, that's what I thought but it's troubling me as it will all end up with me to deal with as my Dad lives overseas.

Unless you count the amount of alcohol she consumes as a deprivation of assets!!😂

It’s all about the motivation for disposing of the asset. The council needs to be satisfied that:
“A) at the point the capital was disposed of could the person have a reasonable expectation of the need for care and support?
(b) did the person have a reasonable expectation of needing to contribute to the cost of their eligible care needs?

12. For example, it would be unreasonable to decide that a person had disposed of an asset in order to reduce the level of charges for their care and support needs if at the time the disposal took place they were fit and healthy and could not have foreseen the need for care and support.”