You've toured several communities, your mom liked the one with the sunny dining room, and there is an apartment open next month. Then the marketing director hands you a residency agreement that's thirty pages long. It mentions levels of care, a community deposit, "30-day notice" and an arbitration clause. Your mom wants to move. You want to be sure you understand what she's agreeing to.
That instinct is right. Unlike nursing homes, which follow detailed federal rules, assisted living is regulated mainly by each state1. That means the contract itself does much of the work of protecting, or not protecting, your parent. This guide walks through the parts of an assisted living contract that matter most, the questions to ask, and how to get help. It's general information, not legal advice. If you're still comparing communities, start with our assisted living tour checklist.
What an assisted living contract covers
Names vary. You may see residency agreement, admission agreement, occupancy agreement or resident contract. Most include the same core parts:
- The apartment and services. Which unit, what's furnished, and the basic services such as meals, housekeeping, laundry, activities and transportation.
- Care services. Help with bathing, dressing, medicines and other daily activities, often priced by level of care.
- Charges and billing. The monthly rate, extra charges, deposits, when bills are due and late payment terms.
- Assessments. How and when staff assess your parent's needs, and how that changes the care plan and price.
- Move-out and discharge. When either side can end the agreement and how much notice is required.
- Refunds. What happens to prepaid amounts and deposits after a move-out or death.
- Resident rights and house rules. Visitors, pets, smoking, personal belongings, grievances.
- Dispute resolution. Sometimes an arbitration clause or a separate arbitration agreement.
Many states require communities to give a written disclosure of services, charges and discharge policies before a resident moves in1. Ask for that disclosure along with the contract.
Services and levels of care
The most important question is simple: what does the monthly rate include, and what costs extra? Many communities charge a base rate for housing and meals plus a care charge that depends on how much help your parent needs. Others bundle everything into one price, or charge for each service separately.
- Ask for the full list of care levels and what each includes.
- Ask how medicine management is priced and handled.
- Ask whether incontinence care, escorts to meals, or extra checks at night cost more.
- Ask what happens if your parent needs two staff members to help with transfers.
- Ask whether hospice, home health and therapy providers can come in3.
Our guide to assisted living levels of care explains how communities usually structure care, and hospice in assisted living covers end-of-life care in a community.
Assessments and care plans
Before move-in, a nurse or care manager usually assesses your parent's health, memory, mobility and daily needs. That assessment becomes the care plan and often sets the care level. Many states require an assessment at move-in and again when needs change1.
Read how often reassessments happen, who does them, and how much notice the community gives before a care level or charge goes up. Ask to be told and included before changes are made, and ask for a copy of every assessment. If you disagree with a new care level, the contract should say how to raise it.
How charges can go up
Assisted living charges usually rise over time. The contract should explain:
- Yearly increases. How much notice is given before a general rate increase. Many communities give 30 to 60 days. Ask what the community's recent increases have been.
- Care level changes. Whether the care charge can rise right away after a reassessment, or only after notice.
- Extra services. Prices for services billed separately, and how they're tracked on monthly statements.
- Deposits and community payments. Whether any up-front payment is refundable, and on what schedule.
Keep monthly statements and compare them with the contract. For help planning costs, see how to pay for assisted living and Medicaid assisted living waivers.
Move-out and discharge clauses
This is the section families most often wish they had read closely. States set rules for when an assisted living community can require a resident to leave, and they vary a great deal1. Common reasons include:
- Care needs the community's license or staff can't meet, such as needing skilled nursing around the clock.
- Behavior that puts the resident or others at risk.
- Not paying after notice.
- The community closing or changing its license.
Look for how much written notice the community must give, whether it must help find a new place, and how you can dispute a decision. Watch for vague phrases like "whenever the community determines it's in the resident's best interest." Ask what that means in practice and whether it can be made more specific.
If your parent might need more care later, ask whether the community has memory care or another level on site. See assisted living vs. nursing home and signs it's time for memory care.
If your parent may run out of money
Many families pay privately at first. If savings may run low, ask now whether the community accepts Medicaid waiver payments in your state, how many residents use them, and what happens to a private-pay resident who becomes eligible4. Some communities let residents stay; others require a move or limit Medicaid to certain apartments. Get the answer in writing. Read how to pay for assisted living by state for your state's programs.
Extra questions for memory care contracts
If your parent is moving into a memory care unit, the contract may include extra terms. Many states have added rules for secured dementia units, such as staff training and disclosures about the special care offered1. Ask:
- What dementia training staff receive, and how many staff are on the unit day and night.
- How the community handles wandering, exit-seeking and behavior changes5.
- When a resident's behavior would lead to a move-out, and what the community tries first.
- Whether charges change as dementia progresses, and how families are told.
- How family members are included in care planning when your parent can't speak for themselves.
Families of people with dementia often sign for their parent, so legal authority matters even more. Our guide to assisted living vs. memory care explains how these settings differ, and how to pay for memory care covers costs.
Signing for your parent
If your parent can sign, they should be the main signer. If you sign too, read what your signature means. Signing as an agent under a power of attorney, using your parent's money to pay, is different from signing as a personal guarantor who owes the bill from your own funds. Write your role next to your name, and ask the community to remove personal guarantee language if you don't intend to take that on.
If your parent can't sign and no one has legal authority, you may need a power of attorney or, as a last resort, guardianship. See power of attorney for an elderly parent. Nursing homes follow a federal ban on required third-party guarantees, explained in our nursing home admission agreement guide, but assisted living rules depend on your state.
Arbitration clauses
Some assisted living contracts require disputes to go to private arbitration instead of court. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living communities generally aren't covered by the federal rule that bans required arbitration, so the rules come from state law and the contract itself. Ask whether arbitration is optional, whether you can cross it out, and whether there's a period to cancel it after signing. Many families ask to remove it, and some communities agree.
Refunds, deposits and what happens after a death
Ask how the community handles prepaid rent and deposits when a resident moves out, moves to a hospital or nursing home, or dies. How many days of charges continue after move-out? When are belongings due to be removed? Is any community payment refundable, in full or in part? These details matter at an emotional time, so it helps to know them now. Also ask who may collect belongings and final statements, and make sure the community has the name of the person with legal authority to handle your parent's affairs. Clear answers now spare your family difficult conversations during a time of grief.
How to review the contract before signing
- Ask for the contract early. Request a blank copy during your tour, along with the state disclosure form.
- Read it at home. Highlight the services, charges, move-out terms and arbitration.
- Check the license and inspections. See how to check inspection reports.
- List your questions. Ask for answers in writing, especially about care levels and discharge.
- Ask for changes. Strike or edit clauses, with both sides initialing.
- Get help. Call the long-term care ombudsman2 or an elder law attorney.
- Keep copies. Of the signed agreement, every addendum and every notice.
The ombudsman program serves residents of assisted living in most states and can explain local rules at no charge2. Read more in our long-term care ombudsman guide. Once the paperwork is done, our moving to assisted living checklist can help with the move itself.
Questions to ask the community
- What exactly is included in the base rate, and what costs extra?
- How do you decide the care level, and how much notice do you give before it changes?
- What were your last few yearly rate increases?
- Under what conditions would you ask my parent to move out, and how much notice would you give?
- Do you accept Medicaid waivers, and what happens if my parent runs out of money?
- Is arbitration required, and can we remove it?
- What's refundable if my parent moves out or dies?
A good community will answer patiently and in writing. If staff rush you or won't explain a clause, take that as useful information too.
