The gaugeFamily · elderly parent
Care home costs in France: who pays, the children’s maintenance duty, the accommodation aid and the estate
A parent who cannot pay for a French care home (EHPAD) can get the département’s social aid for accommodation (aide sociale à l’hébergement, ASH). The parent puts up to 90% of their income towards it, keeping at least 10%, and never less than €125 a month in 2026. Their children, and under conditions sons- and daughters-in-law, state what they can pay; grandchildren are exempt (article L132-6 of the CASF). The ASH can later be recovered from the estate.
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General legal information with official references and dated checks. It is not personalised advice: for a decision that commits you, have your situation checked by a qualified professional.
Let’s look at your situation
Give the cost of the care home, your parent’s income and how many children they have.
Example questions
Your question carries over after signup. Maximum 400 characters. Avoid health data and names.
How much is left to pay after your parent’s share?
Give the monthly accommodation costs and your parent’s monthly income: the gauge places the bill against what your parent can pay, and gives what is left to share between those owing maintenance and the ASH. The example: €2,400 of costs a month and €1,400 of income.
Fictional example · care home gauge
Your parent pays €1,260.00 a month; €1,140.00 is left for those owing maintenance and the ASH.
- Accommodation costs
- €2,400.00
- Left to your parent each month
- €140.00
- Paid by your parent
- €1,260.00
- Left to cover
- €1,140.00
- €1,260Share paid by your parent
- €1,400Your parent’s income
No national scale splits the rest between the children: each contributes according to their means, and the département sets its own share under its social aid rules.
Who pays what for a care home place?
The order of payment when the parent applies for the accommodation aid.
| Who | What they pay | Text |
|---|---|---|
| The resident | Up to 90% of their income, keeping at least 10% and €125 a month | CASF L132-3 and R231-6 |
| The spouse still at home | The ASH leaves them at least €1,043.59 a month | Service-public F2444 |
| The children | Help according to their means, with no national scale | C. civ. 205 and 208 |
| Sons- and daughters-in-law | The same duty, unless the spouse and the children of the union have died | C. civ. 206 |
| Grandchildren | Nothing towards a grandparent’s ASH | CASF L132-6 |
| The département | The rest, through the ASH, recoverable later from the estate | CASF L132-6 and L132-8 |
An ASH application made within 2 months of entering the care home allows cover from that date (fiche F2444).
Sources: CASF L132-3 · CASF R231-6 · CASF L132-6 · C. civ. 205 · C. civ. 206 · Service-public F2444
Who must help a parent who cannot pay for a care home?
The children, who owe maintenance to their father, mother or other ascendants in need (Civil Code, article 205), and the sons- and daughters-in-law, until the death of the spouse who created that link and of the children of that union (article 206).
The département’s accommodation aid opens at 65, or over 60 in case of unfitness for work (CASF, the Social Action and Families Code, article L113-1). It pays the difference between the accommodation costs and what the elderly person and those owing maintenance can pay (service-public fiche F2444).
Sources: C. civ. 205 · C. civ. 206 · CASF L113-1 · Service-public F2444
How much does the parent pay for the care home themselves?
The parent’s resources, excluding family benefits, go to accommodation and upkeep costs up to 90% (CASF, article L132-3). They keep each month at least one hundredth of the annual old-age minimum, so €125 in 2026, and at least 10% of their income (article R231-6; fiche F2444).
If their spouse, Pacs partner or cohabiting partner still lives at home, the ASH leaves that person at least €1,043.59 a month (fiche F2444).
Sources: CASF L132-3 · CASF R231-6 · Service-public F2444
How much must the children pay towards the care home?
There is no national scale: maintenance is set in proportion to the parent’s need and each person’s means (Civil Code, article 208). With the ASH application, each person owing maintenance states the help they can give or proves they cannot, and the département sets its own share taking those contributions into account (CASF, article L132-6).
Failing agreement, the département can ask the court to set the maintenance debt (article L132-7), and anyone can go to the family judge, after family mediation if they wish (fiche F1196).
Sources: C. civ. 208 · CASF L132-6 · CASF L132-7 · Service-public F1196
Who is exempt from the maintenance duty?
For a social aid application: children removed from their family by a court for at least 36 months before turning 18, children one of whose parents was convicted of a crime or sexual assault against the other parent, towards that parent, and grandchildren for a grandparent’s ASH; the exemption extends to their descendants (CASF, article L132-6).
Outside these cases, the judge can release a child from all or part of the debt if the parent seriously failed in their duties towards them; a conviction of the parent for a crime against the child or close relatives releases the child, unless the judge decides otherwise (Civil Code, article 207).
Sources: CASF L132-6 · C. civ. 207
What does article 208 of the Civil Code say about the amount of help?
The text that measures each child’s contribution, with no national scale.
Les aliments ne sont accordés que dans la proportion du besoin de celui qui les réclame, et de la fortune de celui qui les doit.
In English, briefly (our summary, not an official translation): Maintenance is granted only in proportion to the need of the person claiming it and the means of the person owing it. The same article lets the judge add an indexation clause to the payment.
What do children of a parent entering a care home ask?
Is the ASH recovered from the estate?
Yes, the département can claim against the estate, on the net assets passed on, against the recipient of a gift made after the application or in the 10 years before it, against a legatee and, subsidiarily, against the beneficiary of a life insurance policy for premiums paid after 70 (CASF, article L132-8). The €46,000 threshold of article R132-12 concerns home help, not accommodation.
When should you apply for the ASH?
Within 2 months of entering the care home, for cover to start on that date (fiche F2444). Service-public advises applying at the same time as the admission steps, each département applying its own social aid rules.
Can you challenge the département’s decision?
Yes: by an appeal to the president of the departmental council, who has 2 months to answer, then before the administrative court within 2 months if the answer does not suit you (fiche F2444).
Can a child refuse to contribute?
Only if an exemption in the law applies or the judge grants a release; otherwise, the département can have the contribution set by the judge (CASF, articles L132-6 and L132-7; Civil Code, article 207).
Which texts is this care home gauge based on?
- Social Action and Families Code, article L113-1 (aid for elderly people)Légifrance, in French
- Social Action and Families Code, article L132-3 (90% of resources)Légifrance, in French
- Social Action and Families Code, article R231-6 (minimum sum left)Légifrance, in French
- Social Action and Families Code, article L132-6 (people owing maintenance, exemptions)Légifrance, in French
- Civil Code, article 205 (maintenance owed to ascendants)Légifrance, in French
- Civil Code, article 206 (sons- and daughters-in-law)Légifrance, in French
- Social Action and Families Code, article L132-7 (set by the court)Légifrance, in French
- Civil Code, article 208 (proportion of need and means)Légifrance, in French
- Civil Code, article 207 (release by the judge)Légifrance, in French
- Accommodation aid for an elderly person (fiche F2444)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 1 January 2026
- Maintenance duty (fiche F1196)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 8 July 2026
- Social Action and Families Code, article L132-8 (recovery of social aid)Légifrance, in French
Texts cited last checked: 26 September 2026