My 86-year-old mum gave me £90k: Is this ‘deprivation of belongings’ if she wants care?

I would be grateful if you could clarify if this situation might be viewed as deprivation of assets by the local authority.

My widowed mother (86 years) had to sell the family house to buy an accessible flat in 2021 as her mobility was suffering.

The house title deeds were jointly in my mother and my brother’s names as had been the case from purchase some decades prior, but my brother, having fallen out with my mother, wanted no interest in the proceeds of the house sale and agreed that the whole £180,000 was all paid to her.

She bought the flat in for £96,000 and gave me my brother’s half share, £90,000, in 2022.

I put the money towards a rental property to help provide income for our household (me, my wife and children) as our self-employment had suffered during and after the Covid restrictions.

My mother’s mobility has deteriorated and she may have to go into residential care in the near future, which would mean selling her flat to pay for it, and it would then be subject to a financial review by the local authority.

Will the £90,000 invested in our rental property have to be handed back to pay for any ongoing care for my mother?

Tanya Jefferies, of This is Money, replies: We asked a lawyer with experience in care cases to explain how a local authority might act, based on the facts you have outlined – his take on it is below.

Should your mother need residential care and her assets have to be reviewed by her local authority, it would be worth seeking personal help from a solicitor specialising in this area of the law.

You can use the advanced setting of the Law Society’s find a solicitor tool to find a firm near you with the right expertise.

Ben Tyer, partner at SAS Daniels, replies: If someone requires the local authority to pay for their care, the local authority may undertake a financial assessment of that person’s current and historical assets.

Local authorities are told they should ensure that people are not rewarded for trying to avoid paying their contribution.

Deprivation of assets is when a person intentionally deprives or decreases their overall assets to reduce the amount they pay for their care.

In investigating any gifts, a local authority considers whether 1) the person had a reasonable expectation of the need for care and support when the gift was made and 2) whether avoiding care fees was a significant motivation.

In terms of timing, you mention that your mother’s mobility has ‘deteriorated’ and she may need care.

But the relevant timeframe is how your mother was in 2022 when she made the gift.

For instance, if she were fit and healthy in 2022 and could not have foreseen the need for care and support, then it would be unreasonable for the local authority to decide it was deliberate deprivation.

However, you mention your mother’s mobility was already suffering in 2021, so it is not far-fetched for the local authority to argue that your mother was aware of the possibility of her needing residential care in the future.

Whilst a lump-sum gift like this is, on the face of it, a classic example of deliberate deprivation, from the unusual circumstances described, one conclusion might be that your mother had an unexpected windfall of the half share of the proceeds of sale and simply re-directed this to you.

This half share of the proceeds of sale was not something she had ever anticipated having, so the gift was not motivated by avoiding care fees.

Unless your mother can satisfy the local authority about her intentions, there is a real risk this could be deemed as deliberate deprivation.

If so, the local authority may hold you liable for the difference in charges your mother would have contributed had she retained the full proceeds of sale.

That does not necessarily mean you have to sell the property; you would just have to fund the liability from other funds.