Farm families are being urged to immediately appoint a farm successor – one of the conditions of being able to avail of the recently amended Nursing Home Support Scheme, known as Fair Deal.

Changes to the law underpinning Fair Deal introduced a three-year cap on nursing-home charges against a farm or a business asset. These changes came into effect last week.

However, farming families cannot avail of the new scheme without having a successor appointed.

Independent TD, Denis Naughten is advising families to act now.

“Families cannot avail of this relief until they have appointed a successor who will farm the land for the next six years, and provide evidence of this to the Health Service Executive,” he said.

“Delaying to apply could cost 0.14% of farm value weekly,” he added.

“To avail of the three-year cap, the person in the nursing home must formally designate their family successor who will run the farm for the next six years and they must also confirm that either they or their partner/spouse spent a substantial part of their working time on the farm before they went into long-term care.”

The six-year period commences on the date of appointment as successor by the person in the nursing home.

“In most instances this should be straightforward, but the cap cannot kick in until the application and supporting documentation including sworn affidavits are submitted to the Nursing Home Support Scheme offices,” said Deputy Naughten.

“This means that every week a family delays submitting their application, a further charge of 0.14% will be placed against the capital value of the family farm or business asset, so it is important that families act quickly.

Where the land has already been signed over but is still being charged under the Nursing Home Support Scheme, the new owner of the farm is obliged to consent to a charging order being registered against the asset.

“In such cases there may be a need to secure additional consent from a lender, which may result in additional nursing home charges being applied against the farm until all the paperwork is lodged,” he added.

Application forms are now available on the HSE website