Knowledge · Guide · German law applies
Moving into care & financing it.
The house, the ownership and the first decisions. Care rarely begins on a fixed date — this guide is for the weeks before and after, when a plan has to stand. Updated June 2026 · General orientation, not individual legal or tax advice (§ 3 RDG, § 4 StBerG).
First, the answer
Care rarely arrives loudly — it edges into a family over weeks and asks, almost in passing: what happens to the house now? This guide is not for the day the hospital social-services team puts you under pressure — by then it is too late. It is for the weeks before and after. You decide, we prepare the ground.
The first thirty days
Three threads that must not get tangled. Social services and the care fund: where care follows a hospital stay, the social-services team is the first port of call; the care fund recognises a care level after assessment by the Medical Service (14–25 working days). The care-home contract: the central document in residential care — have it checked by the consumer advice centre before you sign. The contracts of the person needing care: accounts, insurance, powers of attorney — which leads to the power of attorney.
Three documents that carry the family
The power of attorney (Vorsorgevollmacht) authorises a trusted person to act once the individual can no longer manage their own affairs — publicly certified (€20–70 plus VAT at the notary depending on value, €10 at the guardianship authority), it is reliably accepted by banks and authorities; a full notarisation with a draft costs more. The advance directive (Patientenverfügung) sets out which medical measures are wanted or refused. The care directive (Betreuungsverfügung) names who should be appointed as guardian. Where these are missing, a court guardianship procedure becomes necessary, taking weeks to months.
Care costs 2026 in plain language
In residential care the monthly personal contribution in the first year of stay in 2026 averages €3,245 nationally — regionally from around €2,696 (Saxony-Anhalt) to €3,969 (Bremen). Over the length of stay the care fund covers a rising benefit supplement (care bonus, § 43c SGB XI: 15 / 30 / 50 / 75 % from the 1st / 13th / 25th / 37th month) — but only on the nursing share, not on board and lodging. In home care there is care allowance or benefits in kind, depending on the care level.
Social assistance and the ten-year clawback
Where pension and assets do not cover the personal contribution, social assistance steps in (care assistance, SGB XII). It then reviews asset transfers from recent years: a gift can be reclaimed within ten years (§ 528 BGB), where it was made without adequate consideration. Anyone who gifts the house in 2018 and needs care in 2025 may be asked for proportional repayment. Honest liquidity planning belongs in every decision to gift.
Three paths for the house
When the family home stands empty: keep and manage — available, but running costs without use (and: an unoccupied buildings-insurance policy often lapses after 60 days unless notified). Let — rental income covers costs but demands attention. Sell — liquidity without the management burden, but final. An honest weighing belongs in the third or fourth month of care, not in the first weeks.
A lifetime gift — what it can do, and what it cannot
It uses the tax-free allowances (§ 16 ErbStG) and creates clarity about who gets the house — combined with a right of residence or usufruct. But: it does not protect against the social-assistance clawback within the ten-year period, and it cannot be undone unilaterally. It fits where enough liquidity remains for the next ten years and a tax adviser and a notary review the arrangement together. When the parent needing care dies, the inheritance begins — more on that in When several people inherit a house.
Terms, clearly explained
- Care-home personal contribution
- The share of residential-care costs that the person needing care bears themselves — in 2026 around €3,245 on average in the first year.
- Care bonus (§ 43c)
- A benefit supplement from the care fund that rises with the length of stay: 15 / 30 / 50 / 75 % from the 1st / 13th / 25th / 37th month.
- Power of attorney (Vorsorgevollmacht)
- A written authority for a trusted person in case of incapacity. Certified at the notary for €20–70 plus VAT (guardianship authority: €10), reliably accepted.
- Social-assistance clawback
- The right of social assistance to reclaim from a recipient of a gift within ten years (§ 528 BGB).
Frequently asked questions
- How high is the personal contribution in a nursing home?
- In 2026 around €3,245 per month on average nationally in the first year, regionally between €2,696 and €3,969. Over time the nursing share falls through the care bonus — board and lodging remain.
- Which documents do we need now?
- While the person is still legally capable: a power of attorney, an advance directive and a care directive. They are the most important step of the first weeks — without them, a lengthy guardianship procedure becomes necessary.
- What happens to the empty house?
- Three paths: keep and manage, let, or sell. Each has its own consequences for cost and effort. The weighing belongs in the third or fourth month — not the first weeks. Important: report the vacancy to the buildings insurer. How to do this in an orderly way: The house stands empty.
- Does a gift protect against care costs?
- Not within ten years. Social assistance can reclaim a gift within that period (§ 528 BGB). A gift only fits where enough liquidity remains for the next ten years.
In depth
Ways to finance care
Who pays when the pension falls short.
More →The personal contribution
What 2026 really brings.
More →Must children pay for care?
Liability only above €100,000.
More →Power of attorney & guardianship
The documents that matter now.
More →The family home
Keep, let or sell.
More →Avoiding a rushed sale
Why haste almost always costs.
More →Funding, renovation and the GModG
Duties and grants on the house.
More →Dementia and selling the house
When a parent falls ill — a power of attorney, or the route through the court.
More →The house stands empty
Insurance, frost protection, regular checks — the quiet deadlines of the first weeks.
More →Your next step.
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