As an aged care financial planner, I am asked this question many times each week. The answer in short, is NO, you cannot be forced to sell your family home.
However, once we look at alternatives and the affect this could have on your final asset base to leave behind for your family as an inheritance, selling your family home is an option that you may consider.
When I’m asked this question, I explain the alternatives. I’ll then work out the financial implications of either option, and indeed other options depending on my clients’ individual/family asset base; along with immediate and long-term needs & goals. Only then can the options be made clear and presented on the basis of emotional and financial implications, so that my client can choose which option they are happy to proceed with.
As an “outcome driven” aged care financial planner, I always ask pertinent questions to gain an understanding of your overall financial position. Once the options are considered, I present information specific to your needs and goals, taking into account the financial & emotional considerations to enable you, and your family as required, to balance the “outcomes” and make an informed decision as to which options suit you best.
After all, this is as much an emotional decision as it is financial, both now and into the future. Often, with the financial & emotional considerations in hand, the choice is made simpler. That’s my overall goal; to make difficult choices simpler for you. Whatever the ultimate choice is, you can be assured you will have had the best information in hand on which to base that choice.
Read more about selling the home here.
The government has a website which outlines some implications from selling the home. Read here.
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