Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision Mr X’s mother deprived herself of assets by placing her property into a Trust. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault with the way the Council made its decision.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision that his mother deprived herself of assets by placing her property into a Trust. He says the council failed to consider all the reasons for why his mother placed the property into a Trust. As a result, the Council has assessed Mr X’s mother to be responsible for the full cost of her care and this has put her care placement at risk.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X’s mother, Ms A, put her property into a Trust in 2019.
6. The ‘Care and support statutory guidance’ says when a council needs to decide if someone has deliberately deprived themselves of an asset it should consider:
• whether avoiding the care and support charge was a significant motivation in the timing of the disposal of the asset; at the point the capital was disposed of could the person have a reasonable expectation of the need for care and support?
• did the person have a reasonable expectation of needing to contribute to the cost of their eligible care needs?
7. The Council’s records show it considered these issues during the appeal. The panel considered the reasons forward by Mr X about the motivation for his mother putting her property into a Trust. It also considered all the other available information, including medical evidence of Ms A’s health before the property was placed in a Trust. After consideration of all the relevant information, the Council decided Ms C had deliberately deprived herself of an asset.
8. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision, but there is no fault in the way the Council made its decision. The Council has appropriately considered the reasons the family put forward. The Council has also properly explained its decision on why it has decided Ms A has deprived herself of assets in its appeal decision letter.
9. Therefore, I will not investigate this complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault with the way the Council made its decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman