Care Bills ‘Will Leave Nothing To Inherit’

Millions of parents accept that their children will be denied an inheritance because they are likely to be forced to spend their savings on care in old age.

A new poll shows seven out of 10 believe they are unlikely to pass on any money after their death because of the rising cost of nursing care and other expenses.

Costlier nursing care mean parents are left with little to pass on to their children

A fifth of 16 to 70-year-olds are worried that their own parents will spend what would otherwise have been their inheritance, according to the NOP poll for the Local Government Association (LGA).

The LGA says this “new realism” about most people’s potential to pass on money to the next generation is fuelled by rising life expectancy and the increasing cost of social care for the elderly.

It is warning young people to “kiss goodbye” to the hope that an inheritance from their parents will bail them out of debts or help them on to the housing ladder.

David Rogers, the chairman of the LGA’s community wellbeing board, called on central government to provide more money for social care.

advertisementHe said: “As the ‘bank of mum and dad’ ceases trading, it is important to consider just how much of their spending is on social care and the knock-on effects this will have on a generation as they move into old age.”