As part of the financial assessment under Fair Deal, you will contribute 7.5% of the value of certain assets each year towards the cost of your care for a maximum of 3 years.
This is known as the '3-year cap'.
These assets can include:
- your home
- the proceeds of the sale of your home
- your farm or business
The 3-year cap applies whether you choose to take out a nursing home loan or not.
Your home
Your home will automatically be removed from your financial assessment after you have been in care for 3 years. You do not need to do anything.
If you sell your home while in care
If you sell your home while you are in care, the net proceeds of sale will also qualify for the 3-year cap.
You need to contact your local nursing homes support scheme office if you sell your home.
Farms and businesses
You need to apply if you want your farm or business to be included in the 3-year cap.
For your application to be successful you need to meet some conditions to avail of the 3-year cap if you own a farm or business.
These conditions include:
- You must apply to us to appoint your family successor who will commit to running the farm or business for at least 6 years
- Your farm or business must have been actively run by you, your partner or your proposed family successor for at least 3 of the last 5 years
- A charge in favour of the HSE will be placed on the chargeable property of a business or farm
People with reduced capacity to make decisions
If a person is unable to apply themselves, certain people may apply on their behalf.
These people include:
- a person appointed as a care representative (a person appointed by Circuit Court)
- a committee for Ward of Court (a person appointed by Office of Ward of Courts)
- a holder of a registered enduring power of attorney (chosen to act on behalf of another person)
A registered enduring power of attorney needs to be in place before the applicant becomes unable to make decisions.
Find out more about power of attorney and enduring power of attorney.
Appointing a family successor
You need to apply to us using the Fair Deal application form to appoint your family successor.
Your successor must be aged 18 or older and either your partner or your relative or your partner's relative.
A relative is either a:
- child
- grandchild
- brother or step-brother
- sister or step-sister
- uncle
- aunt
- nephew or niece
- son-in-law or daughter-in-law
- parent or step-parent
How to appoint your successor
Complete part 7 of the Fair Deal application form.
You'll need to provide supporting documents, including signed statutory declarations (affidavits).
Apply to appoint your successor as soon as you can. This is so your successor can begin the 6-year period they must commit to running your farm or business. This commitment begins from the day that they are formally appointed by us. Your successor cannot be appointed until you are in care.
We’ll review your appointed successor to make sure that they comply with the conditions of the scheme. This review can be done at any time, over the 6 year period.
You can appeal any decisions that we make.
If you've legally transferred your farm or business to a family successor
You still need to apply to the HSE to appoint a family successor through the scheme.
Do this even if you have legally transferred your farm or business to your successor in the 5 years before your first application or at any time after your first application.
Farm or business must be actively worked
The farm or business must have been actively worked by either you, your partner or your family successor for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
This is up to the day in which you enter care.
You will need to provide proof of this.
You cannot be considered for the 3 year cap if you do not meet this condition.
Charge on your farm or business
You must agree to us placing a charge in favour of the HSE on your farm or business. This must be agreed by you, your partner and any other owners of the farm or business.
A charge is a type of mortgage that will be placed on the property of your farm or business.
The charge will be removed once:
- Your successor's commitment period of 6 years has ended.
- All other conditions of the 3 year cap have been followed.
Information
You may need to repay money to us if your family successor does not comply with the conditions of the scheme.
You both need to sign a statutory declaration
You and your successor will both need to sign a separate statutory declaration form.
The declaration includes that:
- your successor agrees to work your farm or business for at least 6 years
- your farm or business asset has been actively worked for at least 3 of the 5 years before you entered care
Statutory declaration forms
Statutory Declaration that you will need to sign (PDF, 530KB, 3 pages)
Statutory Declaration for your Proposed Family Successor (PDF, 530kB, 2 pages)
You will need to sign a different statutory declaration form if:
- you are signing on behalf of someone with a reduced capacity to make decisions (PDF, 545KB, 4 pages)
- the farm or business has been transferred to the proposed family successor (PDF, 530KB, 2 pages)
People in care under Fair Deal before 20 October 2021
People in care under Fair Deal before the new law came into affect on 20 October 2021 can still apply for the 3 year cap under the old guidelines. You will need to do this by 20 April 2022.
We will contact you directly and tell you how to do this.
You cannot ‘backdate’ payments
You cannot ‘backdate’ payments or get a refund for any payments made before the 3-year cap.
For example, if you have spent 5 years in care, you may qualify for the 3-year cap. But this is only from the date we appoint your family successor.
You won’t be repaid any payments already made.
You can appeal any decisions that we make
If you sell your farm or business
If you sell your farm or business at any stage, the money from the sale will be assessed as part of your cash assets. This happens even if the 3-year cap has passed.
You must tell the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Office about any sale. You must do this within 10 working days of the date of the sale.
This is so we can carry out a new assessment of your weekly contribution.
Related content
001A -Client Statutory Declaration for appointment of a family successor (PDF, 556KB, 3 pages) - This statutory declaration is be completed by the client that has capacity to understand the Fair Deal scheme. This is required at application stage.
001B - Care Representative Statutory Declaration for appointment of a family successor (PDF, 560KB, 4 pages) - To be completed by the care representative of a client that does not have the capacity to understand the scheme. This is required at application stage.
002 - Proposed Family Successor Statutory Declaration (PDF, 551KB, 2 pages) - This statutory declaration must be completed by proposed family successor at the application stage.
003 - Proposed Family Successor if asset is transferred asset - Statutory Declaration (PDF, 552KB, 2 pages) - This statutory declaration is required at the application stage if the asset is a transferred asset.