Guides · Updated November 2026
Care guides
Plain-English guides to arranging care in England: what it costs, how to pay, how to choose a provider and what the council must do. Written from official guidance and the CQC register.
- All guides
- Overnight Care · 11
- Elderly Care · 99
- Carer Support · 48
- End-of-Life & Palliative · 28
- London · 99
- Personal Care · 15
- Reablement · 16
- Care homes · 124
- Alzheimer's & Dementia · 50
- Respite for Carers · 16
- Live-in Care · 15
- Retirement living · 22
- Regulation & Quality · 62
- Cost & Funding · 146
Alzheimer's & Dementia
When should someone with dementia go into a care home?There is no fixed stage of dementia that means a care home, but safety risks, night-time needs and carer exhaustion are the usual tipping…
Carer Support
Can I get paid to care for a family member?The five ways family carers in England can be paid in 2026/27, from Carer's Allowance to direct payments, with the rules and amounts for…
Care homes
Can I be made to pay my parent’s care home fees?Children are not legally responsible for a parent's care home fees, but signing the wrong paperwork, agreeing a top-up or receiving a gift can…
Care homes
Who pays unpaid care home fees after someone dies?Care home fees still owed when someone dies are a debt of their estate, which executors must settle before anyone inherits; family members are…
Care homes
Tenants in common and care home fees: how it can protect your homeOwning your home as tenants in common, with a will trust, can protect the first partner's share from the surviving partner's care home fees.
Cost & Funding
How much does respite care cost in 2026?What respite care costs in England in 2026, who pays for it, how the means test works and how to book a break.
Carer Support
Universal Credit carer element 2026/27: £209.34 a monthWho gets the £209.34 a month Universal Credit carer element in 2026/27, how it interacts with Carer's Allowance and how to add it to…
Care homes
Personal Expenses Allowance 2026/27: £31.80 a week explainedThe Personal Expenses Allowance is the £31.80 a week of their own income that council-funded care home residents in England keep for personal spending…
Care homes
What happens to your State Pension and benefits in a care home?The State Pension continues in a care home and counts as income for fees, while Attendance Allowance and PIP daily living usually stop after…
Care homes
Jointly owned homes and care home fees: what councils countHow councils in England assess a jointly owned home for care home fees: beneficial shares, valuation, property disregards and unwilling co-owners.
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