Q: I have a degenerative disease and am likely to need residential care within 10-15 years. A friend says if I gift my home to my son and I survive it by 7 years, the local authority cannot take my home into account when assessing my means. Should I transfer my home now to qualify for assistance if I need long term care in the future?

Q: I owe nearly £10,000 on a credit card. I took it out under a special offer and now can’t get the balance down. I have tried to apply for other cheaper credit cards but without success. I don’t think the interest rate I am paying is very fair and I don’t think the credit card company is treating me fairly either. Is there anything I can do?

Q: My brother and his wife have just come back from South Africa where they have lived for sixteen years. Due to the current financial climate and the fact that they have no credit rating here in the UK, they are finding it impossible to get a mortgage. If I acted as their mortgagee how would I go about setting up the loan to make it legally watertight?

Q: My workload has increased massively since the company I work for closed down several offices last year. As a direct result of this I have been off work for two months with stress, but one of my colleagues overheard our line manager saying my illness was more likely to be caused by personal problems. This isn’t the case but what if the company tries to use my long-term absence as an excuse to get rid of me?