Insurance broker / Insurance questions / Long-term care

What happens to your home if you need long-term care in Germany?

In short

What happens to your home if you need long-term care in Germany depends on who lives in it. If your spouse stays in a suitable house, it is protected. If it stands empty after you move into a care home, you must rent it out or sell it before the social welfare office (Sozialamt) helps with an average own share of EUR 3,364 a month.

Request a quote +49 3375 29 12 77

What it costs

Figures that decide what happens to the house, 2026.

Example	Typical range
Own share in a care home, first year, national average	EUR 3,364 a month
Own share, range across federal states	EUR 2,891 to 3,761 a month
Protected savings per person	EUR 10,000
Guide for suitable living space	about 80 to 90 m² alone, 130 to 140 m² family
Period in which gifts can be reclaimed	10 years

Own shares from the survey of the substitute health funds, July 2026.

Living space figures are guide values used by offices and vary case by case.

Pension and rent in the worked example are assumptions.

Worked example

Widow, 82, house empty after moving into a care home

How quickly the house comes into play when pension and savings do not cover the bill.

Own share in the care home, first year	EUR 3,364 a month
Own pension (assumption)	EUR 1,600 a month
Gap	EUR 1,764 a month, about EUR 21,200 a year
Savings above the protected EUR 10,000	EUR 20,000, lasts just over eleven months
Rent from the empty house (assumption)	EUR 900 a month, gap falls to EUR 864

Without rent the savings are gone after just under a year, with rent after about 23 months. Then the Sozialamt asks for a sale or gives the help as a loan against a land charge.

When your home is protected

If your pension and savings do not cover the care home, the Sozialamt pays a benefit called Hilfe zur Pflege. Before that, you must use assets that can be sold. A suitable home is exempt under § 90 Abs. 2 Nr. 8 SGB XII as long as you or members of your household live in it.

Suitable means size, plot and value fit the number of residents. As a rough guide offices name about 80 to 90 square metres for one person and 130 to 140 square metres for a family house. These are not fixed limits.

Situation	What happens to the home
Spouse keeps living in a suitable house	stays protected
You receive care at home in your own house	stays protected
Single, house empty after moving into care	must be rented out or sold
House much too large for the residents	protection can partly lapse
Sale takes time or is not possible at once	loan from the Sozialamt against a land charge

If the house stands empty

If you live alone and move into a care home permanently, protection usually ends. Renting it out may be enough at first: the rent goes towards the care home, and the house stays in the family. If it is not enough, the office will ask you to sell.

A rushed sale is not required. Under § 91 SGB XII the Sozialamt can give the help as a loan and secure it with a land charge (Grundschuld). The money is repaid later from the sale or the estate.

Giving the house to your children

Many people think about transferring the house to their children early. If the giver becomes needy within ten years, the gift can be reclaimed under § 528 BGB. The Sozialamt takes over this claim and collects from the children.

Keeping a right to live in the house or a usufruct (Nießbrauch) changes little: rent from a usufruct must be used for the care home. A transfer belongs in the hands of a notary or a specialist lawyer.

What it means for your children

Children only have to pay towards their parents' care home if a child earns more than EUR 100,000 gross a year. A son or daughter in law's income does not count.

That limit does not protect the parents' house, though. If it still belongs to the parents, it is used as their asset whatever the children earn.

How to protect the house

The surest protection is your own money for the gap between pension and care home bill. Top up care insurance with a daily benefit of EUR 50 pays about EUR 1,500 a month and can delay a sale for years or avoid it.

You do not need it if your partner will keep living in the house and the costs can be met from pension and savings, or if you are happy to sell the house when care is needed.

Step by step

Clarify who would still live in the house after a move into care.
Work out the gap between your pension and the own share in a care home.
Check how long savings above EUR 10,000 per person cover the gap.
Calculate renting out as the first option before a sale looms.
Plan any transfer to children only with a notary and with the ten year period in mind.
Size top up care insurance so that it closes the gap.

Checklist

Living space and plot in relation to the number of residents
Partner who wants to stay in the house and their own pension
Gifts from the last ten years recorded in writing
Lasting power of attorney so someone may manage the house and accounts
Monthly gap covered if care is needed
Land register and charges up to date

Common mistakes

Giving the house away shortly before care is needed and thinking it is safe
Assuming the EUR 100,000 limit for children also protects the parents' house
Selling under time pressure although a loan from the Sozialamt would be possible
Having no power of attorney, so a court must appoint a guardian for the sale

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Do I have to sell my house if I move into a care home?

Only if your money runs out, you need welfare and nobody from your household lives in the house any more. You can rent it out first.

Can my spouse stay in the house?

Yes. As long as they live in it and it is of a suitable size, the Sozialamt cannot demand a sale.

Can the Sozialamt register a land charge?

Yes. Instead of a sale it can grant the help as a loan secured by a land charge.

Does it help to give the house to my children?

Only if more than ten years pass before you need welfare. Otherwise the Sozialamt can reclaim the gift.

Do my children have to sell their own home for me?

No. Children earning less than EUR 100,000 gross a year do not have to use their own home or savings.

What about a flat I own?

The same rules apply as for a house. What matters is whether it is suitable and who lives in it.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request a quote: Long-term care

We compare insurers and come back to you, in English. Free; the insurer pays our fee.

1Who is it for?

Personal My company

2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

Please review all my existing policies

3Details

Long-term care insurance in Germany

Year of birth * Which type interests you? * Desired monthly benefit at the highest care level (in €) Leave empty if you are unsure Any pre-existing conditions or ongoing treatment? * Has a care level already been applied for or granted? * Notes For example cover for your partner, retirement abroad, premium waiver

4Your current policy

Current insurer Policy ends on What matters more to you?

5How can we reach you?

Name * Email * Phone Postcode Town Preferred contact Anything else we should know