The signature nobody reads
Entry day is the worst possible moment to sign anything. There is a move under way, a frightened parent, paperwork still missing, and someone holding out the resident agreement and the accommodation agreement with a pen. Almost everyone signs there, standing up, without reading.
Somewhere in those documents there may be a clause that reaches your own bank account. It is one of the most consequential signatures in the whole process, and the one you get least explanation about.
First: are you even able to sign?
This surprises most families. Being next of kin gives you no legal authority to sign on another adult's behalf. It is not a legal status.
What does give authority:
- your parent signing for themselves, if they have decision-making capacity — capacity is presumed and is specific to the decision;
- an enduring power of attorney covering financial matters. The names and requirements differ in every state and territory, and a document made in one state does not always operate the same way in another — which matters in families spread around the country;
- an order from the state civil and administrative tribunal — NCAT, VCAT, QCAT and their equivalents — appointing an administrator, where capacity has gone and nothing was signed in time.
If none of these applies and your parent cannot sign, the honest answer is that nobody can sign yet — and a provider who shrugs and asks you to sign anyway is not doing you a favour.
The distinction that decides whose money is at risk
- Signing as attorney or administrator means you act on behalf of your parent. Their funds pay. You are not personally liable. Make it visible: sign in that capacity, not just with your name.
- Signing in your own right — as guarantor, or under a clause making you responsible for the fees — means your income and savings are exposed, regardless of your parent's finances.
Ambiguity favours the provider. If a form does not state the capacity, write it in and initial it, or ask for a version that does. The question to have answered in writing is simply: am I agreeing to pay from my parent's funds, or from mine?
Where this comes up most
Usually around the accommodation payment. If your parent pays a daily payment rather than a refundable lump sum, the provider carries an ongoing exposure — and that is where requests for a guarantee tend to appear.
Worth remembering at that moment: you generally have a period after entry, commonly 28 days, to choose between a lump sum, a daily payment or a combination. Do not let a request for a personal guarantee push you into settling that question on the spot. And check any additional or extra service fees, which are a separate agreement with a separate commitment.
What to look for in the documents
- Is there a guarantor or responsible-person clause at all? It rarely carries that heading — it usually sits inside the payment provisions.
- Is liability joint and several among siblings, so the provider can pursue the whole balance from one of you?
- Is there a cap and an end date, or is it open-ended and does it survive your parent leaving or dying?
- How does it sit with the refundable deposit, and what are the refund timeframes?
What you can negotiate
- a cap — liability limited to a defined number of weeks rather than an open sum;
- an explicit statement that you sign solely as attorney;
- a split between siblings, so each stands behind a share instead of the whole.
The provider may decline, and that is their right. But the answer tells you something: someone who will not discuss any limit, on a document binding you for years, is showing you in advance how they will handle everything else.
Free help, before you sign
The Older Persons Advocacy Network, on 1800 700 600, is free and independent, and it will go through an agreement with you before you commit. Families call it after something has gone wrong; this is the moment it is most useful and least used.
If you have already signed
- Ask for a full copy of everything you signed.
- Read the payment provisions and establish your real exposure: attorney capacity or personal, capped or open.
- If a balance is building, act now. A personal guarantee makes the provider's position very strong, and arrangements get agreed before escalation.
- If your signature was obtained unclearly — no explanation, capacity never specified, a guarantee presented as routine — have it reviewed by a solicitor, and call OPAN.
The practical point
Agreeing to be a guarantor is not wrong in itself. Sometimes a family decides to do it with their eyes open. What is wrong is doing it without knowing, or finding out when the first demand arrives addressed to you rather than to your parent.
And one thing makes all of it easier: having an alternative. Families holding two or three other suitable homes discuss the clauses calmly and walk away from poor terms. Families with one open door sign whatever is in front of them.
If that margin is what you are missing, Curalune Care Help gives it to you: 3–5 homes that match the real situation within 24 working hours, with contact details, links and a ready-to-send message you can put to all of them at once. A$109 one-off. Start here
Enduring powers of attorney and administration orders are governed by state and territory law under different names and requirements; accommodation payment rules, timeframes and fee structures are set by aged care legislation and are periodically reformed. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Have the agreements reviewed by a solicitor before signing as a guarantor, consider independent financial advice on the accommodation payment, and contact the Older Persons Advocacy Network on 1800 700 600 for free support. Curalune is not a party to agreements between families and providers and cannot guarantee availability.