Social care financial information and advice

The council has a duty to provide information and advice. This is not limited to care and support. We can help you get advice relating to:

financial management
budgeting
planning and paying for care

If you're having difficulties managing your finances, then we can help you prepare budgets and if necessary, signpost you for debt management and counselling support if required.

When you have a financial assessment, your benefit entitlement is checked. We will help you to understand the benefits that you may be entitled to claim, and if necessary, support you to make claims. We're unable to complete applications for some benefits, such as Universal Credit, but we can assist and guide you through the claims process.

The Benefits and Contributions Advisors can help you with all aspects of understanding your financial assessment. This applies if your benefits change, and you need to have your assessment re-calculated. This also applies if the type of care you are getting changes, and this affects your benefit entitlement - for example if you move into supported living.

We can help you understand deferred payments, and how they work. We cannot however help you decide if they are right for you. In these circumstances, we would ask that you consult a qualified financial advisor.

See more information about the sort of advice which is available:

Independent and regulated financial advice
Independent and restricted advisors
Government advice - MoneyHelper
Help with making a will

Independent and regulated financial advice

It is never too early to consider seeking independent or regulated financial advice around planning and paying for care and Support.

You should have a plan about how you will pay for care and support now and in the future, should your needs change. You should consider who will manage your financial affairs if you are unable to do so at a time when you are required to make these decisions. For example, you may need to be cared for in a care home and need to understand how your assets can be used to help meet the costs.

You may wish to discuss your options with family friends or a financial advisor. There may be times when you must consider the need to seek independent or regulated financial advice. For example, if you are entering into a deferred payment agreement, then the council would ask that you seek independent financial advice to help you make an informed decision.

There are many sources of independent financial advice, from charities and voluntary organisations, to trained individuals such as Independent Financial Advisors (IFA’s).

The council recommends that you consult with a Later Life or Retirement Advisor if you consider that you may be self-funding. Later life financial advisors are specifically trained and offer financial products that will meet your individual circumstances. The council can advise you of the qualifications to look for when seeking a later life financial advisor.

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Independent and restricted advisors

If you're getting advice about investing your money, you need to know there are 2 different types of financial advisors, ‘independent’ and ‘restricted’, and this can affect the advice you are given.

Independent advisors can offer the full range of financial products and providers available.

Restricted advisors have chosen to offer ‘restricted advice’, and will focus on a limited selection of products or providers.

All financial advisors must be approved or authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Both independent and restricted advisors must pass the same qualifications and meet the same requirements to ensure they are providing suitable advice.

An advisor or firm must tell you in writing whether they offer independent or restricted advice, but if you are not sure which they offer you should ask for more information.

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Government advice - MoneyHelper

The government have set up a specialist website, MoneyHelper, through the Money and Pensions Service.

The MoneyHelper website provides information about paying for care, as well as a directory of Retirement Advisors, all of whom are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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Help with making a will

Financial advisors will discuss with you any legacy you intend to leave your loved ones. You should consider making a will to be certain that your wishes will be met after your death. It can be easy to put off making a will but the process may not be as difficult as you think.

Consider making a will for the following reasons:

looking after your loved ones
protecting your assets for future generations
reassurance
avoiding disputes with relatives
your funeral arrangements
saving on Inheritance Tax

If you don’t make a will, your assets will pay funeral expenses and debts before any disbursements. If you have a spouse or civil partner and children, your spouse or civil partner will inherit all your personal possessions and at least the first £270,000 of your estate plus half of the remaining estate. Your children will then be entitled to the other half of the remaining estate.

If you have a spouse or civil partner, and do not have children, your spouse or civil partner will inherit your whole estate which will include your personal possessions.

You can make your own will, or you can instruct a solicitor or a professional will writing service to do it for you. Banks also offer will writing and executor services, as do online organisations.

We recommend that you discuss your will requirements with an independent financial advisor or a solicitor.

Choosing an executor

You need to choose an executor that can deal with distributing your money and property. It can involve a lot of work and responsibility so consider that the people you want to appoint are suitable. It’s also recommended that you check that they are willing to take on that level of responsibility.

When deciding on your executor, remember:

if you choose more than one executor they can share the responsibility, however you can choose as many executors as you wish
up to 4 executors can apply for a Grant of Probate, the official document that allows executors to deal with your estate
executors can be appointed as ‘Trustees’ if a Trust is created within your will; if anybody under the age of 18 is a beneficiary of the Trust, you should appoint 2 trustees or executors - always seek professional advice
if your family and friends do not wish to take on the role you could always appoint a professional executor, normally a solicitor or accountant, their fees are normally payable from your estate

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