A 91-YEAR-OLD woman is being taken to court after a claim that she gave her Lowestoft home to her son five years ago to avoid being forced to sell it to pay for nursing home charges.

A 91-YEAR-OLD woman is being taken to court after a claim that she gave her Lowestoft home to her son five years ago to avoid being forced to sell it to pay for nursing home charges.

Suffolk County Council, which describes itself as a victim in a writ issued at London's High Court and just made publicly available, claims that Emily Youngman gave her son John her home in Lowestoft to put it beyond the council's reach, so that the council could not force her to sell it.

Now in a test case with implications for many other elderly people throughout the country who face having to sell their homes to pay for care and leaving nothing to their children when they die, it is asking the High Court to set aside a declaration of trust giving the property to her only son. The Council says Mrs Youngman should pay the nursing home charges.

The writ says the council plans to make her bankrupt if she does not pay the charges, and seeks an order forcing John Youngman to pay the cost of the nursing home charges for his mother.