The provision of long-term care (LTC) in the UK seems, as it always will, to be a bit of a lottery. Under the present rules, if your assets are in excess of £23,000 then you are responsible to pay for your own care. If the local authority provides you with care, and your assets are over £23,000, then they can seize your assets to repay any debt that has built up during the term of your care. Income over £8,450 a year can be seized also.

However, the amount that a local authority will claim depends upon its own cost structure, with the lowest-costing authority charging nothing (Tower Hamlets) to the most expensive charging £850 per week (Brighton & Hove).

The green paper, which should be released about the same time as you read this, is an attempt to bring a standardised structure to LTC. The impact of this, we believe, will be to increase overall costs.

For those with the money, paying for care means you can decide from where to buy your provision, and the type of care you wish to receive. But for those whose only asset is their home, they often will not only not get to decide on the quality of care, but also their children will often lose out on an inheritance as the local authority claims the property on death.

In many cases the home can be protected with a trust arrangement, but this is only the case if deliberate deprivation is not deemed to be present. This means putting the trust in place long before care is required, and putting the trust in place for reasons other than to protect it from care claims.

If you know someone who needs to protect their home and assets, please have them contact us or their specialist advisers, as the actions that you can put in place are likely to be reduced in the coming months.