Latest OPG guidance on family care payments: informal support, commercial rates, affordability, and evidence requirements.
Payments for support given to P by family and friends
No contract, done by way of natural love and affection for P, informal, no job description, no formal hours and no need for oversight by a case manager
Must be in P's best interest
Paid at a commercial rate less 20% to reflect the fact no tax paid
Increases year on year, sensible if follow ASHE
Deputies can make the decisions to pay without court input unless there is a disagreement over the level of the payment or there is likely to be challenge by another family member
Requirements for Making Payments
To make the payments
- Care must be reasonably required – can rely on evidence from a care expert in litigation, case manager or social worker, if have this
- Must be affordable
- Must properly reflect the input of the carer, so reflect the hours actually provided support, need to evidence how payment calculated
Guidance on Payment Calculation
New guidance is given on how the payment is calculated depending on P's circumstances
- If the estate is sufficient and the family provide most of the care, then the payment should be reasonable and affordable
- If the estate is sufficient and there is also a significant amount of professional care, then pay at a commercial rate less 20% to reflect no tax, the OPG willgenerally referto the mean salary in the ASHE table as a benchmark for the commercial cost of care (evidence needs to be supplied to show why another rate has been used)
- Where P's estate is limited, payments must reflect what can be afforded
Evidence of Payment Calculations
In all cases it is good practice to keep evidence showing how the payments have been calculated and to review this.
Payments are not taxable; it is a good idea though to keep HMRC informed of what is happening.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
