Long Term Care

Youth is a wonderful thing - what a pity it is wasted on the young - Oscar Wilde

There are currently 500,000 people in residential care and 5,000,000 receive some form of care in their home. Over the next 50 years the 64-85 age group will increase by 41%. By age 75, 56% of people will have some form of disability and by age 85 this increases to 75%. At one time it was common for the carer to be a member of the family, indeed for most there was no other option but with today's lifestyle and scattered families it is more often than not a professional carer. But of course this comes at a cost. Indeed the average cost of a residential care home is £340 per week. With nursing care this rises to £422 per week. Anyone with capital of above £195,00 will have to meet the full cost of this care. Assets taken into account include cash, investments such as shares and unit trusts, overseas property, business asset, trusts where the individual is a beneficiary and with some exceptions their own residence. Even if you have capital of less than £12,000 any income above £17.50 will go towards the cost of care.

With a rising ageing population there is going to be greater demands for care and it is reasonable to assume that the already less than generous public contribution to the costs of care will not increase in real terms. Of course it is not only the old who may need care. Accidents and illness can strike at any age.

It is a natural desire to retain existing assets and there are steps that can be taken to provide for the cost of care. Some of these are insurance based and can be provided by regular premiums or lump sums. Long Term Care bonds also have the attraction that they offer capital growth, surrender values and death benefits if long term care is not required. There are products that provide immediate benefits so it is not always a case of it being too late to make provisions.

If you have to have long term care it may be that the individual is mentally incapable of directing how they should be treated. A living will may be made whilst mentally capable and sets out an individuals wishes and may include :

- General beliefs about life e.g. wish to live as long as possible regardless of state of health.
- Give a direct instruction e.g. treat me if I am suffering from a particular illness but not for another.
- Appoint someone else to make a decision on my behalf.

Although living wills are not recognised in any statute, the Courts and British Medical Association (BMA) guidelines do recognise them and allow a person to direct a refusal of a particular treatment in the future.

A person may not however refuse basic care on the form of cleanliness or nutrition or insist on a particular form of treatment.

If you would like to find out more and explore further provisions for long term care, life assurance, critical illness or private medical insurance please contact us.