As previously announced, from 1 January 2016 the exemption relating to rental income from a resident’s former principal home has been removed.
Previously, if a care recipient in residential aged care pays for some of their accommodation costs by periodic payments, rental income from the former principal home was exempt in the Aged Care Means Test. For residents who enter care on or after 1 January 2016, rental income will be treated in the same way as any other income for the Aged Care Means Test and this exemption no longer applies.
Note that residents in care before 1 January 2016 will not be affected by the change, and annual and lifetime caps on means-tested care fees will remain in place.
This change in particular, makes financial planning and asset structuring vital to ensure residents take advantage of every allowable payment and entitlement option available to them. Aged Care financial planning is complex, and thousands of people are paying more than they need to because they just don’t understand how to access legitimate exemptions and payment strategies.
Aged Care Financial Services is one of the few truly aged care specialist financial planning services in Australia. You can engage our advisers to assist you with basic paperwork, facility negotiations or to design a full comprehensive financial plan to structure your finances for a comfortable move into residential aged care; ensuring affordability now and into the future.
If you’re unable to come into our office for a face-to-face meeting we can organise a skype or teleconference meeting; this is a particularly useful option for those wanting to include interstate or overseas family members.
All advisers are professionally qualified and are licensed financial planners; and are members of approved financial planning associations. Our structuring and aged care advice strategies are subject to regular compliance reviews and reports.
