Be clear on the compensation for elderly care

Caring for an elderly parent is one of the toughest jobs you'll ever take on, yet millions stumble into it without thinking through the financial or legal consequences.

- HARVEY JONES

As Britons live longer, more of them need day-to-day help.

Responsibility usually falls on the child who happens to live closest, or has the time. That can feel unfair when siblings sit back and leave one person to shoulder the load.

Robert Horsey, partner and head of the wills and inheritance disputes team at Ashfords, said tensions often build. "There's a big difference between running a few errands and assuming entire responsibility for welfare and support, and sometimes even personal care," he says.

Many in the "sandwich generation" are already juggling work and young families. It's hardly surprising some feel they ought to be compensated for their contribution, or feel hard done by if siblings aren't pulling their weight.