Your local council may suggest a particular home to you, or offer a choice of homes. However, you may not like the suggested home when you visit it, or you may have a particular home in mind. If so, you can ask the local council to arrange a place for you in the home that you prefer. If you do move to a home outside your local council area they will still be responsible for arranging payment.

If you choose a home that is in another country in the UK you will need to ask your local council if they can make a special arrangement. You will be assessed under the rules from the country you are moving from. However, if you are in Northern Ireland and you want to move to England, Scotland or Wales the situation is more complicated. Contact Seniorline for more advice.

Apart from the restrictions mentioned above, you should be able to move to the home of your choice as long as:

• your chosen home has a place available;
• it is suitable for your assessed needs;
• the home will enter into a contract with the local council under the council's usual conditions; and
• it doesn't cost any more than the local council would usually expect to pay for someone with your needs.

Top-up fees
You may want to move to a home that does cost more than the authority would normally pay. In this case, someone else (usually a relative or a charity) will need to make up the difference. However, if this is an option for you, check what will happen if the fees go up in the future. Will the third party be able to meet the costs? Will the local council have a responsibility to cover part of the increased fees?

You cannot usually top up your own fees. In England, Scotland and Wales you can only do this if:

• you have a deferred payment agreement with your local council; or
• your property is being disregarded for the first 12 weeks of entering into care.

In Scotland, you can only do this if meet one of the above criteria, or if you better off as a result of free nursing care or free personal care (and have arranged to have you care arranged by the council).

In Northern Ireland you can't top up your own fees, you can only get help from a third party. For more information about this contact our free advice service SeniorLine on 0808 808 7575.

The local council in England cannot expect a relative such as a son or daughter to contribute towards the fees if the home costs no more than the local council would usually pay.

For more information on top-up fees check with our free advice service SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern ireland).

Liable relatives rule

The council may ask your spouse to make a contribution towards your care home fees, depending on which country of the UK you live in. In England and Wales the only person the council can ask to contribute towards your fees is your husband or wife. (If you are in a civil partnership, you are not affected by the liable relatives rule.) The law, in England and Wales, is due to change so that the council cannot ask your husband or wife to contribute towards your fees, but the Government has not yet given a date when this will happen. Until then, the Department of Health, and the Welsh Assembly Government, recommend that local councils do not ask your spouse for a contribution. The local council does not have a right. to assess your spouse's finances. If the council wants your husband or wife to make a payment, the local council has to ask him or or her to agree to a sum that they can afford. 

In Northern Ireland, the local health and social care trust can ask your spouse to make a contribution if you are unable to pay yourself. Seek advice if your spouse is asked to make a contribution.

Scotland has abolished the liable relatives rule, which means your local council cannot ask your husband, wife, or civil partner to contribute towards the fees.

If no agreement is reached then the local council will have to go through the courts to set a ‘reasonable’ amount.

Going to court is seen as a last resort. The local council will only do this if they believe that your spouse has sufficient money to contribute towards your care without suffering any hardship. Even if the requested payments are not being made, the local council still has to provide the accommodation you have been assessed as needing.

For more information about the reliable relatives rule, call SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 if you live in Northern Ireland).