WE. Care · Aged care financial advice
When your parents need it most, we do the legwork.
Moving a loved one into care is emotional, rushed and full of forms. We map out the costs and options, including the RAD or DAP decision, structure how they’re paid, and handle the paperwork with Centrelink and the provider, so your family can focus on Mum or Dad.
Our view
Aged care decisions are usually made in days, by tired people, in a hospital corridor. They deserve better than that. The fees, the pension and the family home all hinge on choices most families only ever make once.
Sound familiar?
It usually starts with a phone call nobody wanted.
The hospital wants a discharge plan
Mum’s had a fall, she can’t go home, and you have days, not months, to find a place and work out how to pay for it.
What happens to the family home?
Sell it, rent it or keep it? Everyone in the family has a view, and each choice changes the fees, the pension and the estate.
A deposit, a daily payment, or both?
The provider has quoted a room price and wants to know how you’ll pay. You don’t know which option leaves Dad better off.
A pile of Centrelink forms
The income and assets assessment needs to be right, and when you lodge it matters. Nobody tells you that.
The rules changed on 1 November 2025
How residential aged care is paid for now.
Under the new Aged Care Act, what someone pays depends heavily on their assets and income, and on when they entered care. People already in care before 1 November 2025 generally stay under the old rules.
| Cost | What it covers | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Basic daily fee | Meals, cleaning, laundry, utilities | Everyone, set as a share of the Age Pension |
| Hotelling contribution | Everyday living costs above the basic fee | Means tested, with a daily cap |
| Non-clinical care contribution | Support such as showering and mobility help | Means tested, with a lifetime cap |
| Accommodation | The room itself, as a refundable deposit (RAD), daily payment (DAP) or a mix | Means tested. A small part of a RAD is now retained each year for up to five years |
Every one of these depends on individual circumstances, and the dollar figures are indexed regularly. Professional advice before entering care can make a significant difference to what the family pays and how the family home is treated.
The family decision path
From the first conversation to settled in.
Most families go through the same decisions in roughly the same order. The expensive mistakes happen when step four is rushed or step five is skipped.
1. The health event or the slow decline. A fall, a hospital stay, or a growing sense that home isn’t safe any more.
2. The aged care assessment. Arranged through My Aged Care to confirm your parent is eligible for residential care.
3. Powers of attorney in place. Someone needs legal authority to sign and deal with Centrelink if your parent can’t. If the documents aren’t there, our preferred legal provider can help.
4. The means assessment. Services Australia (or DVA) assesses income and assets to set the means-tested fees. What’s included and when the form is lodged both matter.
5. Model the options. Keep, rent or sell the home. RAD, DAP or a combination. What it does to the pension, the fees and what’s left for the estate.
6. Choose the home and sign. Compare a few providers, balancing comfort, location and cost, then sign the agreement once you understand it.
7. Implement and review. Set up the payment structure, lodge the paperwork, and revisit it when circumstances or the rules change.
The family home question
Sell, rent or keep?
This is the decision families agonise over, and it’s rarely just about money. It’s also where advice can make a real difference.
Selling can fund a refundable deposit but changes how the proceeds are assessed for the pension and the fees. Renting it out produces income that is also assessed. Keeping it may protect it for the estate but leaves the accommodation cost to be met another way. In some situations, such as a spouse still living there, the home is treated quite differently.
We model each option side by side over the years your parent is likely to be in care, so the family can decide with the numbers in front of them.
How we help
Four steps, and we do the legwork.
Understand the costs
What each fee is likely to be for your parent, based on their actual assets and income.
Model the options
Home, RAD or DAP, investments and the pension, mapped over the long term.
Structure the payments
A payment and investment structure that covers the costs and supports their entitlements.
Do the legwork
Centrelink forms, phone calls and paperwork with the provider, handled for you.
What you get
Advice sized to where your family is up to.
45 minute aged care session
A qualified adviser explains the rules and fees as they apply to your parent, in our Melbourne or Gold Coast office or online.
Discussion paper
A focused paper on the common impacts and options under the current aged care rules and funding. It doesn’t include recommendations.
Statement of Advice
A full written plan with analysis, recommendations and cash-flow projections, prepared as a compliant advice document.
Implementation and support
We complete the income and assets forms, liaise with Centrelink and the provider, and stay involved if circumstances change, working with your accountant where you have one.
Illustrative scenario only (not a real client). A widowed mother owns her home and has some savings. Her daughter, who holds her enduring power of attorney, finds a suitable home that asks for a large refundable deposit. The family plan is to sell the house and leave whatever’s left in the bank. Before anything is signed, we’d model that against other ways of paying and holding the money, because the choice can change her pension, her means-tested fees and what the family eventually inherits.
Questions families ask
Aged care FAQs.
Do we have to sell Mum’s house?
Not necessarily. The accommodation cost can be paid as a lump sum, a daily payment or a mix, and the home can sometimes be kept or rented. Each option has different consequences, which is why we model them before you decide.
Is the refundable accommodation deposit fully refunded?
For people entering care from 1 November 2025, a small part of the RAD is retained by the provider each year for up to five years. The balance is refunded when your parent leaves care or passes away, subject to the agreement. Aged care costs explained.
Dad went into care before 1 November 2025. Do the new rules apply?
Generally not. People already in care before that date usually stay under the previous arrangements, although some changes can still apply. We check which rules apply to your parent.
When should we get advice?
Before you lodge the income and assets assessment and before you sign anything with a provider. That’s where good advice makes the biggest difference.
Who can make decisions if Mum can’t?
Usually the person named under an enduring power of attorney. If the documents aren’t in place, we can introduce you to our preferred legal provider. See estate planning.
We live interstate from Mum. Can you still help?
Yes. We have offices in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast and do much of this work online, so families can be involved wherever they are.
WE. Insights
Reading on retirement and later life.
Your next step
Give the family one clear plan.
A 45 minute session is usually enough to explain the fees as they apply to your parent and show the family what the real choices are.
General advice only, current as at October 2026. This information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, so consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting. Aged care fees, caps and thresholds are indexed and depend on individual circumstances and entry date. Legal services are provided by our preferred legal provider, not Wealth Effect Group. Wealth Effect Group (CAR 424768) and Andre Dirckze (AR 395157) are Authorised Representatives of Boston Reed Pty Ltd, ABN 89 091 004 885, AFSL 225738. See our important information.