If a loved one was in long-term nursing home care under Fair Deal, you may find that a charge has been registered against their home. This is normal, and it does not mean the house must be sold. It simply records a debt the estate will need to clear before it can be shared among the people who inherit (the beneficiaries). This guide sits within our wider overview of Fair Deal and the estate, which explains how the deferred contribution is recovered after death.
Fair Deal is the everyday name for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, established by the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009. As executor or administrator, you will need to clear this debt before distributing the estate — it is one of the duties covered in our Executor's Guide. This article explains how the contribution becomes a charge on the family home, how the 3-year cap limits what the home contributes, and what the charge means in practical terms when you come to value the estate and administer it.
How the Fair Deal contribution works
Under Fair Deal, a person in care pays a contribution towards their cost of care based on their income and assets. For a single applicant, this is 80% of their assessable income (the income counted under the scheme) plus 7.5% of the value of their assets each year. The State pays the balance directly to the nursing home.
The principal residence — the family home — is one of those assets. On its own, a 7.5% yearly contribution based on a home's value could become very large over a long stay in care. The scheme limits this with a cap that applies specifically to the home.
The 3-year cap: 22.5% of the home's value
The 3-year cap means the principal residence is only included in the financial assessment for the first three years a person spends in care. At 7.5% per year, the home contributes a maximum of 22.5% of its value in total — 7.5% multiplied by three. After three years, the home stops contributing, however long care continues.
Year 1 in care
7.5% of the home's value
7.5%
Year 2 in care
7.5% of the home's value
15%
Year 3 in care
7.5% of the home's value
22.5%
Year 4 onwards
No further contribution from the home
22.5% (capped)
The 3-year cap for a single applicant: the home contributes 7.5% of its value per year for a maximum of three years, capped at 22.5%. Source: HSE.
| Time in care | Contribution from the home | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 in care | 7.5% of the home's value | 7.5% |
| Year 2 in care | 7.5% of the home's value | 15% |
| Year 3 in care | 7.5% of the home's value | 22.5% |
| Year 4 onwards | No further contribution from the home | 22.5% (capped) |
Worked example. A home is valued at €300,000 when the person enters care. The yearly contribution based on the home is 7.5% of that — €22,500. Over the three capped years, the home contributes €67,500 in total (22.5% of €300,000). A fourth or fifth year in care adds nothing further from the home.
How the contribution becomes a charge on the house
A person does not have to find the money for the contribution based on their home during their lifetime. They can apply to defer it through Ancillary State Support — commonly called the Nursing Home Loan. The HSE advances this part of the contribution, and it is collected later from the estate.
To use the loan, the person gives written consent to a charging order being registered against the relevant asset, usually the principal residence. Under section 17 of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009, Ancillary State Support is registered as a charge against the property in favour of the HSE.
This charge is what you may discover after a death. It is not a penalty or a sign that anything went wrong — it is simply the security for care the State funded on the person's behalf. The charged amount grows year by year while the deferral is in place, up to the 22.5% cap on the home.
What the charge means when the estate is administered
When the person in care dies, the loan falls due and is repaid to Revenue from the estate. Revenue collects the money on the HSE's behalf. The person named on the loan application as the accountable person, or the personal representative (the executor or administrator), is responsible for arranging repayment.
The estate cannot be distributed before the loan is repaid unless the HSE gives prior written consent. If the personal representative distributes the estate without that consent and the loan is not cleared, Revenue may pursue the personal representative directly. In practice, the loan is treated as a debt of the estate, settled before beneficiaries receive their shares.
The loan must normally be repaid within 12 months of the date of death. Regardless of when it is repaid, the loan amount is adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the date each instalment was made to the date of repayment — this is a legal requirement that always applies. No additional interest is charged if repayment is made within the 12-month window. If the loan is not repaid within 12 months, interest also accrues from the date of death until it is cleared. The table below sets out the two repayment triggers. Our guide to repaying the nursing home loan after death walks through the repayment process step by step.
The person in care dies
Within 12 months of the date of death
The charged property is sold or transferred during their lifetime
Within 6 months of the sale or transfer
Repayment deadlines for the Fair Deal nursing home loan. Source: Revenue and HSE.
| What triggers repayment | Repayment deadline |
|---|---|
| The person in care dies | Within 12 months of the date of death |
| The charged property is sold or transferred during their lifetime | Within 6 months of the sale or transfer |
The Fair Deal charge is not inheritance tax
It is easy to confuse the Fair Deal loan with inheritance tax, but they are separate. The Fair Deal loan is a debt the estate owes the State for care already provided. It is deducted before the estate is valued for distribution, reducing what is available to beneficiaries.
Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is a separate tax — one that a beneficiary may owe on what they actually inherit, after debts like the Fair Deal loan are settled. Because the loan is deducted first, it can reduce the value each beneficiary receives and, indirectly, their CAT exposure. The two are assessed independently.
When you value the estate for probate, the outstanding Fair Deal loan is recorded as a liability. If the home is the main asset, this matters for how you plan around the family home after death — both for repayment and for any beneficiary intending to keep it.
Practical steps if you find a Fair Deal charge
Coordinating a Fair Deal repayment alongside probate can feel like a lot when you are also grieving. You do not have to work it out alone. We can help you understand the steps and connect you with the right professionals to handle the legal and tax side properly.