IRELAND’S farming, food and agribusiness specialist professional services firm, Ifac, is advising Limerick family-owned farms and businesses to be aware of a recent beneficial change to the Fair Deal Scheme.
A recent change made to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (commonly known as the Fair Deal Scheme) is that after three years when calculating the cost of a person’s nursing home care, the value of family-owned farms and businesses will no longer be taken into account.
Of course, this is subject to satisfying conditions:
- You must apply to the HSE to appoint a family successor who will commit to running your farm or business for at least six years.
- Your farm or business must have been actively run by you, your partner or your proposed family successor for at least three out of the last five years.
- The successor must be 18 years of age or older and must be either your partner, your relative or a relative of your partner.
Applications to have the farm or business included in the three-year cap must be made using the HSE Fair Deal application form. If an individual has been in care for two years and a successor is identified in Year 3, the previous two years in care will be taken into account.
Another change to the Fair Deal Scheme is the three year cap now also applies to proceeds from the sale of an individual’s principal primary residence.
This means that where a nursing home resident’s family home is sold, the proceeds are not be included in the financial assessment for the Scheme once three years have passed.
Individuals who qualify for the Fair Deal Scheme contribute 80% of their assessable income annually, plus a maximum of 7.5% of the value of their assets, investments and savings which is now capped at three years.
The first €36,000 of an individual’s assets or €72,000 in the case of a couple is not counted in the financial assessment.
There are two steps to the Fair Deal Scheme application process — a care needs assessment and a financial assessment. Depending on the outcome of these assessments, there are then two types of support:
State support — This is where the HSE pays any balance due to the nursing home care provider after your weekly contribution to the cost of your care;
Nursing home loan — If you own assets, you can choose to apply for a Nursing Home Loan which will allow your weekly contribution to be collected from your estate after your death. When applying for this loan, you must provide written consent to having a charging order registered against your asset.
More Information here: Accounting & Financial Advisors for Farmers and Businesses (ifac.ie)
