The days when nobody wants to read a contract
Your mother died yesterday. Today the home is asking when you will clear the room, and a fortnight later an account arrives that nobody has explained. It is the worst possible moment to start reading a resident agreement — which is exactly why most families pay it without looking.
In Australia there is one figure that dwarfs everything else on that account, and it is worth getting right.
The RAD: the largest number, and what actually starts the clock
If your mother paid a refundable accommodation deposit, the balance is refundable to her estate. This is frequently hundreds of thousands of dollars, and families routinely misunderstand the timing.
The key point: the refund period is triggered by the paperwork, not by the death. Once you provide the provider with probate or letters of administration, a legislated period runs — commonly 14 days from being shown that grant — for the balance to be paid. Until the estate paperwork exists, the clock has not started.
So the practical sequence is the reverse of what most people assume: getting the grant moving in the supreme court of your state or territory is the single most useful thing you can do for the refund, and it should start early rather than after the funeral admin settles.
Two more things to check:
- Interest is payable. The balance accrues interest at the prescribed rate, and if the provider pays late, a higher rate applies to the overdue period. Ask for the interest calculation in writing alongside the refund.
- What is deducted. Any daily accommodation payment drawn down from the deposit, and any agreed amounts, come off the balance. Ask for the deduction history, not just the final figure — this is where errors hide.
The final account: what stops, and when
- Care fees end at death. The basic daily fee and any means-tested care fee stop; the subsidy the government pays the provider also stops.
- Accommodation charges can continue for a limited period while the room is being cleared. Check the resident agreement for how many days, and check it against the date you actually vacated the room — the billing system does not know when you handed the key back.
- Ask for an itemised statement: fees through the date of death, any accommodation charge for the vacating period with dates shown, additional service fees, extra service charges, deposit movements, balance. A single figure is not a statement.
- Additional and extra service fees from the last weeks — hairdressing, pay TV, newspapers, transport, non-covered items. These accumulate exactly when nobody is checking.
- Any prepaid amounts refunded on a pro-rata basis.
If your mother was receiving a pension, notify Services Australia promptly. Payments stop and overpayments are recovered from the estate — it is far less painful to report early than to repay later. Ask also whether a bereavement payment applies, which is claimed, not automatic.
Clearing the room
Ask to be present, and ask for a signed inventory of what is handed over. It feels excessive during a bereavement, which is precisely why it matters: no period sees more wedding rings, hearing aids, dentures and glasses go missing than this one. If something of value is missing, report it in writing to the facility manager immediately.
Ask too about any trust or personal spending account the home held for your mother. That balance belongs to the estate, and you should get a statement, not just a cheque.
The rest of the sequence
- The doctor certifies the death, and the funeral director generally registers it with the state or territory registry of births, deaths and marriages.
- Order several certified death certificates. Five or six: banks, super funds, insurers and the court each want an original.
- Superannuation and insurance. Super is not automatically part of the estate — it is paid according to the fund's rules and any binding nomination. Contact the fund directly and early.
- Probate or letters of administration. Start this promptly; the RAD refund depends on it.
- Care records. The executor can request them. If you have questions about the final weeks, ask now rather than in six months.
- Equipment — hospital bed, air mattress, wheelchair — often belongs to a supplier and is returned, not discarded.
If the account does not add up, or the refund is late
Do not argue on the phone. Email the facility manager and the finance team with the date of death, the actual date the room was vacated, the date you provided the grant of probate, and a request for a corrected itemised statement and the interest calculation by a stated date.
If nothing moves, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission takes complaints directly, including about fees and refunds, and prudential requirements on accommodation deposits are taken seriously — a provider late on a RAD refund is not in a comfortable position. The Older Persons Advocacy Network can help you put it in writing, free of charge.
The part to read beforehand
If you are reading this while your father is still in the home, the useful move is different: get the resident agreement out now and find the clauses on death, vacating the room, and the refund of the deposit. It is the section nobody reads at admission and the only one that counts in a week when you will not want to read anything.
And if you are still searching for a place, that is the part we can take on: tell us the area, your parent's care needs and your timeframe, and you get a shortlist worth calling, for A$109. Start here
This article is general information for families, not legal, tax or financial advice. Refund timeframes, interest rates and probate procedures are set by legislation and by your state or territory, and change over time — confirm the current position with the provider and, where the amounts are significant, with a solicitor. Curalune does not allocate beds and does not guarantee availability.