Aged care for couples

Staying together

• Each partner needs their own assessment. Residential care is approved person by person through My Aged Care (1800 200 422), even if you plan to move in together.
• Say it on the first call. Homes vary: some have rooms a couple can share or rooms side by side, some have a secure dementia area alongside general rooms, and some have neither. Ask what they can offer now and later.
• If only one of you needs care now, the other might visit daily, take residential respite in the same home when they need it, or live nearby. Respite costs only the basic daily fee; see respite care.
• If you need different kinds of care, ask how the home handles that, for example one partner in a memory support area and the other in the main home, and how easily you can spend time together.
• Each partner has their own agreement. Each agrees a room price with the home and has their own fee assessment.

How the means test treats a couple

For a couple, half of the combined income and assets is counted for each partner, whoever earns the income or holds the asset. A couple living apart for health reasons is still a couple; Services Australia calls this an "illness-separated" couple, and uses slightly different income thresholds for each partner. For example, the income free area is $35,726.60 for each member of an illness-separated couple, against $36,454.60 for a single person (as at 20 September 2026).

The family home

• A partner still lives there: the home is not counted for the partner in care. A partner is a "protected person", as are a dependent child and certain long-term carers or relatives.
• Nobody protected lives there: each partner is treated as owning half. Each half counts at its value or the home value cap of $219,858.40 (as at 20 September 2026), whichever is lower.
• If the home is sold: the money from the sale counts in full as an asset, split between you.

The Department's worked example

The Department of Health's published scenario follows a couple, Julie and Raj. When Julie moves into care and Raj stays at home, the home isn't counted, Julie has low means, and she pays only a small daily contribution towards her room. When Raj later moves into the same home, the home is counted (up to the cap) for each of them: Julie's means tested amount rises, she starts paying a hotelling contribution, and her accommodation contribution goes up. If they sell the home, the proceeds count in full and both pay more again. The example shows why the order and timing of moves, and how each pays, matter for a couple. Read the Department's scenarios.

Each partner's choice of how to pay for their room can change the other's fees and both pensions. Those are financial decisions for a licensed adviser or the Financial Information Service; we can explain how the rules work. Our fee estimator covers a single person only; My Aged Care's fee estimator covers couples.

Refunds when a partner leaves or dies

• Leaving for good: the lump sum balance is refunded within 14 days after the day the person leaves.
• Moving to another home: with more than 14 days' notice, the refund is due on the day they leave; with up to 14 days' notice, within 14 days of giving notice; with no notice, within 14 days after leaving.
• After a death: within 14 days of the home receiving probate of the will or letters of administration. The home may refund sooner if it is confident who is entitled to it.
• What comes back: the lump sum less any retention (for people who first moved in from 1 November 2025, 2% a year for up to 5 years) and anything agreed to be deducted. Interest is paid at the base interest rate during the refund period, and at the higher MPIR if the refund is late.

Report changes to Services Australia within 28 days, such as a partner moving into care, a death, or the home being sold. The other partner's fees and pension can change as a result.

Questions couples ask

Can a married couple stay together in an aged care home?

Often, yes, if the home has a room a couple can share or two rooms close together, and a place for each of you. Each partner needs their own aged care assessment approving residential care. Tell every home at the first call that staying together matters, and ask what they can offer and how long it might take.

How are fees worked out for a couple when one goes into care?

Services Australia counts half of the couple's combined income and assets for each partner, whoever earns the income or holds the asset. A couple living apart because of illness is still treated as a couple (an "illness-separated" couple), with its own income thresholds; the income free area is $35,726.60 for each partner, as at 20 September 2026.

Is the family home counted if my husband or wife still lives there?

No. While a partner (or another protected person, such as a dependent child) lives in the home, it is not counted in the aged care means test of the partner in care. If nobody protected lives there, each partner is treated as owning half, and each half counts only up to the home value cap.

What happens to the refundable deposit if my partner dies?

The home must refund the balance, less any amounts deducted, within 14 days of receiving probate of the will or letters of administration. It can refund earlier if it is confident who is entitled to the money. Interest is paid at the base interest rate for that period, and at the higher MPIR if the refund is late.

Does paying a lump sum for one partner change the other partner's fees?

It can. Because half of a couple's combined assets is counted for each partner, a lump sum one partner pays, and how each pays for their room, can change the other's fees and both pensions. This is exactly what the Financial Information Service (132 300) or a licensed financial adviser can work through with you.

Can your fee estimator work out costs for a couple?

Not yet: our estimator only holds the single thresholds. My Aged Care's aged care home fee estimator covers couples.

Sources

• Means assessments for residential aged care (My Aged Care)
• Fee scenarios, 1 November 2025 arrangements, including Julie and Raj (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing)
• Understanding aged care home accommodation costs (My Aged Care)
• Aged care home accommodation refunds (My Aged Care)
• Schedule of fees and charges for residential care, from 20 September 2026

Last reviewed October 2026. Fee figures are as at 20 September 2026 unless another date is shown next to them. General information only, not financial, legal or medical advice. We are not a government service. How we check our facts.