Article On Trusts And Anti-Avoidance Under the Care Act 2014

Brian Sloan (University of Cambridge – Faculty of Law) recently published his article entitled, Trusts and Anti-Avoidance Under the Care Act 2014, University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 50/2015. Provided below is an excerpt from the article:

The social care system in England was the subject of an overhaul via the Care Act 2014, which is yet to be fully implemented. Inter alia, the Act seeks to rationalise the provision of social care, to limit the amount that any one person can be expected to contribute towards his or her lifetime care costs, and to increase the extent to which liabilities to pay for care are deferred, for example until the sale of the care recipient’s home on death. Many individuals will nevertheless be expected to contribute a significant sum towards care costs, even if it is ultimately borne by their estates after death. This potential liability is likely to lead to attempts to shield certain assets from local authorities in order to provide for dependants and others who have a legitimate claim to the now-deceased care recipient’s estate. The Act also contains wide-ranging anti-avoidance provisions designed in substance to reverse dispositions made in order to avoid liability for social care charges. The paper’s aim is to evaluate whether the Act achieves an adequate balance between ensuring that the costs of necessary care are equitably distributed, and protecting the property-related interests of care recipients and those who would otherwise be the beneficial recipients of their assets.