When your home does not have to be sold to pay for residential care. This applies if you are in a care home for a short time, and expect to go back to your own home. It also applies if you have moved permanently into a care home, and the house you own is lived in by your partner, a relative who is over 60, or a child under the age of 16 who you are responsible for. There is also a 12-week property disregard, when the council will not charge you - based on the value of your home - for the first 12 weeks that you are in a care home. You would still have to make a contribution to the cost of the care home based on your income or available capital.