"next of kin" definition

Allira

If your partner still lives there:
If your partner is still living in your jointly owned property, it will not be included in the means test.

Does that apply after both spouses/partners are dead, do you know?

So suppose Mr Dog needs care - we would have to use joint savings to pay for it until they fell below the threshold, but not the house as I would be living there? After I die, would the LA come for the fees out of the estate (assuming that I didn't need care myself)?

If your partner still lives there:
If your partner is still living in your jointly owned property, it will not be included in the means test.

My understanding though is that where the situation is related to a shared owned property, the person in care is required to release their part of the property to pay the fees if they don’t have other means of paying for their care, regardless of who administers it?

Having P of A for my mother, after she lost capacity because of Alzheimer’s, we saw no earthly reason to involve social services. She was self-funded, so we didn’t need them to pay for anything, and we didn’t need anyone to assess her needs, when we could see so clearly for ourselves what her needs consisted of.

Ditto for my FiL.
There was a short tick-box visit by a SW, sent by the care home shortly before my DM moved, to ascertain that it was a necessary move, but by that stage TBH it would have been pretty obvious to anybody after twenty minutes.

Lasting Power of Attorney can be applied for if someone loses mental capacity to make decisions for themselves.

There are two types of LPA:

A "Property and Financial Affairs" LPA allows your loved ones to deal with paying your bills, buying and selling your property and managing your bank accounts and investments.

A "Health and Welfare" LPA covers decisions about health and care and even deciding where you are to live. This can only be used if someone is incapable of dealing with such matters themselves.