Trusts · 11 min read · Published 20 March 2026

Protecting your home from care home fees

How trusts, joint ownership and early planning can protect your home from care home fees. It also explains the rules on giving assets away.

By Aaron Johnson, Consultant Solicitor and TEP, a solicitor in Bridlington who writes every guide himself.

This guide is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Each case is assessed on its own merits.

Guides · Trusts · No. 9 of 12Published 20 March 2026 · 11 minutes

In Bridlington, Aaron is often asked whether the council will take the house to pay for care. It worries many families. The cost of residential care in England keeps rising.

There are lawful steps you can take to protect your home. They need to be done properly and, ideally, well before care is needed. This guide explains the options plainly.

How care home fees work in England

When someone needs residential care in England, the local authority carries out a financial assessment (a "means test") to decide how much the person must pay towards their care.

The capital thresholds in England are:

Over £23,250 in capital: you pay the full cost of your care
Between £14,250 and £23,250: you contribute from your income plus a "tariff income" of £1 a week for every £250 (or part of £250) above £14,250, and the council pays the rest
Under £14,250: the council pays for your care, but you contribute from your income

When your home is not counted

Your property is left out of the financial assessment if any of these people still live there:

Your spouse or civil partner
A partner, including an unmarried partner
A relative aged 60 or over
A relative who is disabled or incapacitated
Your own child aged under 18

The local authority can also choose to disregard the property in other cases, for example where a carer who gave up their own home to look after you still lives there.

A bunch of house keys on a dark wooden table

Legal ways to protect your home

Several lawful strategies can help protect your property. The right one depends on your circumstances, your family and when you start planning.

Protection Strategies Compared

Trust-Based Protection	Other Approaches
A life interest trust can keep your share out of your partner's means test if you die first	Tenancy in common (not joint tenancy) lets each person own a defined share
It is set up in your will, not during your lifetime, for care fee purposes	Deferred payment agreement: a council loan secured against your home
The surviving spouse can live in the property for life	Equity release: access to the value without selling, but it reduces what you leave
The protected share passes to your children after both partners have died	Renting out the property to pay towards care
Works for couples who own property as tenants in common	Downsizing before care is needed to release capital

For many couples the most effective approach combines tenancy in common with a life interest trust:

How Life Interest Trust Protection Works

Convert to tenants in commonChange the ownership so each partner owns a defined half share, rather than owning the whole property jointly. This is called "severing the joint tenancy".
Write wills with life interest trustsEach partner's will leaves their half share in a trust for the children, but gives the surviving spouse the right to live in the property for life.
First partner diesTheir half share passes into the trust. The surviving partner carries on living in the home as before.
Surviving partner needs careOnly the surviving partner's half share counts in the means test. The other half is already in the trust for the children.

The care cost cap

You may have heard of the government's proposed cap on care costs: a lifetime limit of £86,000 on what anyone would pay for their personal care. It was due to start in October 2025. In July 2024 the government announced it would not go ahead. There is no cap on care costs in England.

Even if a cap is introduced in future, it would only cover personal care costs, not accommodation and food, which make up a large part of care home fees. A cap alone would not protect your home.

Seabirds wheeling below the tall, grassy-topped chalk cliffs at Bempton — Bempton Cliffs

Planning ahead in Bridlington and East Yorkshire

Many of Aaron's clients in Bridlington come to him because they are worried about care fees. Property values vary widely across East Yorkshire, and the right advice matters.

Whether you own a modest terraced house or a larger family home, the principles are the same. Plan early, take proper legal advice, and make sure your wills are structured correctly.

The best time to plan for care costs is when you do not need care. The second-best time is now.
Aaron Johnson, Safe Harbour Legal

Sources

The official pages behind the rules this guide explains. Each was checked on 3 November 2026.

Written by Aaron Johnson, Consultant Solicitor and TEP · Law of England and Wales as at 20 March 2026 · Ends

Questions people ask about this.

General answers for England and Wales. What applies to you depends on your circumstances.

Can the council force me to sell my house to pay for care?
Usually not, but it is not impossible. Since April 2015 the council cannot put a charge on your home without your agreement or a court order. If you qualify, it must offer a deferred payment agreement. This is a council loan secured on the property, usually repaid when the home is sold or from your estate. If you refuse one, or do not qualify, the council can sue for unpaid care fees in the county court. A court can then make a charging order and, on a further application, an order for sale.

Can I give my house to my children to avoid care fees?
Simply giving your house to your children will not protect it if the local authority decides you did it to avoid care fees. This is "deliberate deprivation of assets", and the council can assess you as if you still own the property. Timing and your reasons are the key factors.

What is a life interest trust and how does it protect my home?
A life interest trust is set up in your will to help protect your share of a home you own as tenants in common. If you own it as joint tenants, you need to sever the joint tenancy first. Otherwise your share passes to the survivor automatically, whatever the will says. When you die, your share goes into the trust for your children. Your spouse can usually live in the home for life, on the terms the trust sets. If the surviving spouse later needs care, usually only their own share of the property counts in the means test. The trust does not help with your own care costs.

How much does it cost to set up a trust to protect your home?
Aaron charges a fixed fee for a will with a trust in it, and a separate fixed fee for a couple's wills with a trust in them. Severing the joint tenancy so that you own the property as tenants in common is a separate item. See the fees page for the full list. It is a fraction of what care fees can cost over even a few months.

Is it too late to protect my home if my partner is already in care?
If one partner is already in a care home, the options are more limited but not always gone. The partner who is well can still change their own will. If you own the home as joint tenants, a new will alone does not cover the house. The well partner's share would pass to the partner in care automatically. The well partner can usually sever the joint tenancy by written notice, so their share passes under their will instead. Changes cannot be backdated. If the partner in care gives away their own share, that could be treated as deprivation of assets. Speak to a solicitor as soon as possible.

Next step

Ready when you are.

Sixty seconds of questions that end on a named plan and a fixed fee, with VAT.

Or call 01262 310 850, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.

Appointments are usually available within a few working days, including Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and home visits across East and North Yorkshire.

Important

This guide contains general information about the law of England and Wales as at March 2026. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on in place of advice on your own circumstances. Trust, inheritance tax and care fees law change often; check any specific point before acting on it. Outcomes for any one person depend on their facts, the documents, and decisions taken by HMRC, the courts and others. Fees shown are fixed once agreed in writing, before any work starts. Safe Harbour Legal and Legal Studio Solicitors are trading names of MDLS Solicitors Limited (company number 08599445), authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA 598793. The complaints procedure is at legalstudio.co.uk/sra-complaints (Legal Studio's website).