For most families, the home is the biggest thing they own. Yet many wills leave it in a way that doesn't protect it from the risks people worry about most: care fees, remarriage and children being left out.
The three biggest risks
- Care fees: if everything passes to your surviving partner and they later need residential care, the whole home may be used to pay for it.
- Remarriage: if your partner remarries, their will is cancelled and their new spouse could inherit.
- Sideways disinheritance: a surviving partner can change their will at any time.
How wills can help
Owning your home as tenants in common and leaving your share in a trust in your will, often called a protective property trust or life interest trust, lets your partner stay in the home while ring-fencing your share for your children. It's legitimate planning made through your will, not a gift during your lifetime.
Read more in our sister site's guide to protective property trusts, or use its property trust calculator.
Watch out for
- Giving the home away during your lifetime to avoid care fees. It often doesn't work.
- Schemes that promise to protect everything for a large fee. Be cautious and get independent advice.
Want to protect your home properly? Talk to a specialist.
Frequently asked questions
Can I give my house to my children to avoid care fees?
Giving it away to avoid care fees can be treated as deliberate deprivation of assets, and the council may assess you as if you still own it. It can also cause tax and family problems.
What is a protective property trust?
A trust in your will that holds your share of the home. Your partner can usually live there for life, and your share passes to your children afterwards. It can help protect that share if your partner later needs care.
Does it work if we own the house as joint tenants?
No. You'd first need to change to tenants in common, so each of you owns a share that can pass under your will.
Request a call back
Tell us a little about your situation and we'll call you, usually within one working day, to understand what you need. If it would help, we'll then put you in touch with a specialist, such as a solicitor who deals with wills and powers of attorney. We'll always tell you who they are before passing on your details. We don't give advice ourselves, and there's no obligation.