Key Facts

Next of kin are not automatically liable for care home fees in England and Wales
Liability arises only if you sign a contract with the care home
The Care Act 2014 places the duty to fund on the local authority, not the family
If your relative qualifies for CHC funding, the NHS pays 100% — no family contribution
Always seek legal advice before signing any third-party top-up agreement

No. Next of kin are not legally responsible for a parent's or relative's care home fees in England. The Care Act 2014 places financial liability for care costs on the individual receiving care, not their family members.

TL;DR: Next of kin have no automatic legal liability for care home fees in England. The Care Act 2014 places the duty to charge on the local authority, not the family. The one exception: if you personally signed a guarantor agreement. According to NHS England, around 60,000 people currently receive CHC funding — meaning the NHS pays everything — yet many more who qualify are never assessed.

Are children legally responsible for their parents' care home fees?

No — and this is not a grey area. Section 14 of the Care Act 2014 makes clear that the duty to charge for care services falls on the local authority, and that charge is assessed against the individual receiving care. There is no provision in the Act that extends financial liability to adult children, siblings, or any other next of kin.

England abandoned the concept of family financial responsibility for care in the 20th century. The Poor Laws that once made relatives liable are gone. Nevertheless, modern social care law does not resurrect them.

This means:

A care home cannot refuse to admit your parent because you declined to accept financial responsibility for their fees.
A local authority cannot pursue you for your parent's unpaid care debt simply because you are listed as next of kin.
No contract you did not personally sign can bind you to another adult's care home fees.

The confusion is understandable. We regularly help families who assumed they were legally obligated to pay, only to discover that no such obligation exists. Many families are handed paperwork at admission — sometimes at a moment of crisis — and told or strongly implied that signing it is routine. It is not always routine. Some of that paperwork matters enormously, which is covered below.

Are you liable? Quick reference

Situation	Are next of kin liable?	Reason
Self-funded resident, no documents signed	No	Liability rests with the individual under the Care Act 2014
Local authority-funded placement	No	The council charges the resident, not the family
NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)	No	NHS pays 100%; no charge to resident or family
You signed a guarantor or third-party agreement	Yes	That signature is a legally enforceable contract
You hold a Lasting Power of Attorney only	No (generally)	LPA grants authority to manage assets, not personal liability for fees

What is a care home third-party top-up fee — and is it voluntary?

A care home top-up fee is a voluntary additional payment made by a family member to fund a more expensive placement than the local authority's rate covers. It is not the same as being responsible for your relative's care costs.

Specifically, top-ups only arise in a specific, narrow situation: the council has already agreed to fund your relative's care, and they want a placement that costs more than the council's standard rate. The family member can choose to bridge that gap.

However, the word "voluntary" carries legal weight here. The council must be able to offer a suitable placement at their own rate, without requiring a top-up, before a top-up becomes appropriate. If the council is effectively forcing a top-up by offering only unsuitable placements at their rate, that is not a genuine voluntary arrangement.

A placement is deemed suitable if it meets the person's assessed care needs and is reasonably close to family and friends. The council cannot designate a placement two hours away as suitable simply because it costs less. If you are told that no suitable placement exists at the council's rate in your area, ask for that position in writing, with the specific placements considered and rejected explained. That written record matters: if a CHC assessment later establishes that the NHS should have been funding care all along, the correspondence may support a retrospective claim.

As a result, a third-party top-up does not make you responsible for the total care home bill. You are responsible only for the additional amount you agreed to contribute, for as long as you agreed to contribute it.

When care homes can legally pursue next of kin

Most pressure families face is unlawful. The following scenarios, however, create genuine legal exposure:

You signed a guarantor or third-party payer agreement. Care homes regularly ask family members to sign documents at admission that make them financially liable for fees if the primary payer defaults. If you signed this, that signature is binding. The pressure to sign is common and often presented as a formality — it is not. A guarantor agreement is a legally enforceable contract. If your parent's fees fall into arrears, the care home can pursue you directly for the debt.
You hold a Lasting Power of Attorney and mismanaged assets. An attorney acting under a financial LPA has a legal duty to manage the donor's money in the donor's best interests. If fees go unpaid because an attorney diverted funds, mixed finances, or failed to use the donor's assets appropriately, personal liability can follow. The Office of the Public Guardian can investigate LPA misuse, and in serious cases the attorney can be required to compensate the estate.
Deliberate deprivation of assets. If a family member transferred a relative's assets — property, savings, investments — with the primary intention of reducing their care home fee assessment, the local authority can assess those assets as if the transfer never happened. The council does not need to prove intent beyond reasonable doubt; it assesses whether avoidance was a significant motivation. This applies to recent, deliberate transfers. It does not automatically apply to property planning done years before care was needed, when care was not a foreseeable requirement.

Accordingly, if none of these three situations apply to you, a care home's demand that you personally pay your relative's fees has no legal foundation.

Is there a route that removes care home fees entirely?

Before accepting that care home fees are simply a fact your family must manage, there is a question that should come first: does your relative qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)?

CHC is an NHS-funded package of care for adults with a primary health need. If someone qualifies, the NHS funds 100% of their care costs. Not a contribution. Not a capped amount. Everything — including care home fees, personal care, and nursing care. The family pays nothing.

CHC is not a niche provision for exceptional cases. In our experience advising families on care costs, it exists for anyone whose care needs are primarily driven by health rather than social need. Many people in care homes qualify but are never assessed, or were assessed incorrectly and refused.

The most powerful way to exit self-funded care is not a property trust or a tenants in common arrangement — it is CHC. A successful CHC application does not reduce fees. It eliminates them.

Families are rarely told this by local authorities, who have a financial incentive to fund as little as possible, or by care homes, who deal primarily with fee payers rather than NHS-funded residents. For example, families dealing with dementia care home fees often discover that the very condition driving the high cost is also the one most likely to qualify for full NHS funding.

Selling the family home to pay £1,500/week in care fees? You might be legally exempt — if the NHS should be funding the care instead.

Check eligibility now

How to handle care home guarantor pressure

If a care home presents you with paperwork at admission and suggests or implies you must sign as a guarantor, you are entitled to decline. Here is how to handle it:

Say this: "I am happy to assist with communication and coordination, but I am not willing to accept personal financial liability for care fees. I understand I am not legally required to do so under the Care Act 2014."

Do not sign any document described as a "guarantor agreement," "third-party payer agreement," or "indemnity" unless you have read it fully and chosen to accept that liability.

Do not assume that a signature on a general admission form creates financial liability. Read each document. Ask specifically: "Does signing this make me personally liable for fees if my relative cannot pay?"

Request copies of everything before signing anything. A reputable care home will provide them without hesitation.

If a care home threatens to refuse admission or withdraw care unless a family member signs as guarantor, document that threat in writing and seek legal advice. A care home cannot lawfully make admission conditional on a family member accepting financial liability that has no basis in law.

If you have already signed a guarantor agreement and want to understand your exposure, a solicitor specialising in care law can advise on whether the agreement is enforceable and what your options are. Age UK also provides free guidance on paying for care and your rights as a family member.

Can the NHS pay for care home fees?

Yes — through NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). For families currently funding care privately, CHC is the mechanism that can change everything. The NHS CHC overview explains the basics of who qualifies and how to apply.

Therefore, to qualify, a person's overall care needs must be shown to be primarily driven by health needs rather than social care needs. This is assessed using a nationally standardised tool called the Decision Support Tool, which looks at twelve care domains including behaviour, cognition, communication, mobility, nutrition, and medication.

The assessment process has formal stages: a checklist screening, a full multidisciplinary team assessment, and a recommendation to the Integrated Care Board, which makes the final funding decision.

Families should be aware of three things the system does not always volunteer:

You can request an assessment. You do not have to wait to be referred. If you believe your relative's needs are primarily health-driven, you can ask the Integrated Care Board or the hospital discharge team to initiate a CHC checklist.
Retrospective claims are possible. If someone was self-funding care in a period when they should have qualified for CHC, a retrospective review can result in the NHS refunding those fees — sometimes tens of thousands of pounds.
A refusal is not final. CHC decisions can be appealed. Many initial refusals are overturned on review when families understand the criteria and present the evidence properly.

The /care-home-costs hub covers the full spectrum of funding routes, including what happens when self-funding runs out and how means-testing works.