Case Study: Overturning an Allegation of Deprivation of Assets

How Lily Grunwell, Community Care Law solicitor based in our Brighton office, assisted a client to successfully argue that a gift of £140,000 their mother made to him and his brother, whilst she was living in extra care housing, was not an intentional deprivation of assets.

The situation

Stanley’s mother, Edith, had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and made a full recovery following treatment in 2020. After the death of her husband, Edith continued to live in the marital home in the North West of England. During the Coronavirus pandemic, Edith was classed as severely clinically vulnerable and advised not to have contact with people outside of her social bubble. Edith lived some distance from her sons and as a result became severely isolated, which had a negative effect upon her emotional wellbeing.

Edith decided to downsize from her four-bedroom property to a rented two-bed extra care housing flat in early 2021. In January 2022, in line with a long-standing unwritten agreement within her family, Edith gifted her two sons £70,000 each from the proceeds of sale of her house.

Edith did not have any care needs at the time she moved to extra-care housing, she only required general assistance with shopping and maintaining her home. Her primary motivation for moving was to reduce her isolation: the flat was in the town centre, near her friends and her church.

In late 2022 Edith was diagnosed with Dementia, but she managed independently without any care or support. In October 2023 she had a fall and was admitted to hospital. Following her discharge, it became clear that she now had formal care needs, and she paid privately for carers to come to her flat. In April 2024, she decided it was time to move to a Nursing Home.

In July 2025, the Local Authority completed a financial assessment of Edith’s income and capital and alleged that she had intentionally deprived herself of £140,000 by gifting this money to her sons. The Local Authority held that as Edith had made the gift at the time where it was considered that she had a care need, that they would treat the £140,000 as notional capital, meaning that the Local Authority treated her as still having the money and included it in her financial assessment. The Local Authority alleged that the fact Edith lived in extra care housing was evidence that she had care needs at the time she made the gift.

Stanley contacted martin searle solicitors in July 2025 for advice on whether the gift Edith made could be considered deprivation of assets by the Local Authority and to assist with strengthening arguments to request for the financial assessment to be reconsidered.

What Martin Searle Solicitors did

Lily provided Stanley with advice on deprivation of assets and the test that Local Authorities use to determine if a gift is an intentional act of deprivation.

She also assisted Stanley draft a letter to the Local Authority requesting that the financial assessment was reconsidered. The letter set out the reasons why Edith had chosen to move to extra-care housing and included evidence such as an email from the extra care housing provider saying that not everyone who moved to the extra-care housing required care.

The request for reconsideration set out that Edith did not have care needs and nor could she have foreseen herself developing care needs at the time of making the gift to her sons.

The result

The Local Authority accepted the arguments in the letter requesting reconsideration of the financial assessment and held that Edith had not intentionally deprived herself of capital in order to avoid paying care fees, as she did not have any care needs at the time of making the gift.

This meant that Edith’s assessed capital was reduced by £140,000 and she was entitled to Local Authority financial support with her care fees.

If your family member requires care and has been accused of deprivation of assets, get in touch with our expert Community Care Law team on 01273 609911, or email info@ms-solicitors.co.uk to find out how we can help you.