Calculator · When a parent or partner has to move into care

Care home, Canton of Zurich: will the money – and the house – last?

Enter home fees, pension, savings and house: the calculator shows how long the money lasts and what happens to the house. With 2026 care home fees.

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What happens to the house

With 2026 home fees, legal references and two worked examples · As of 10 October 2026 · Dominik Devaja

Your result Savings last 2 years and 10 months

Who is moving into the home?

Singlenever married, widowed or divorced Marriedspouse stays in the house

Care home costs per day (Tagestaxe)

220250280300

Other amount CHFper day = CHF 7,904 per month (month = 30.4 days) Accommodation, care and support, and your share of nursing costs together.

Income per month CHF AHV, occupational pension and other pensions of the person in the home.

AHV helplessness allowance (Hilflosenentschädigung)

none mediumCHF 630 severeCHF 1,008

Amount per month. The “mild” level does not exist in a care home.

Savings CHF Bank, securities and cash, without the house.

Market value of the house (Verkehrswert) CHF Mortgage CHF 0 if the house is paid off.

Value unknown? Written valuation →

Your result

Savings last 2 years and 10 months.

After that, the house has to help pay for the home: through a sale, letting it or a larger mortgage. After that, supplementary benefits are available after 23 years and 7 months at the earliest. During the transition period after moving into the home, the house does not yet count towards the limit.

Care home costs per month CHF 7,904

Shortfall per month CHF 4,404

Savings last 2 years and 10 months

Supplementary benefits at the earliest after 23 years and 7 months

Your assets over time

Savings
House minus mortgage
Limit for supplementary benefits: CHF 100,000
Supplementary benefits possible after 23 years and 7 months
Savings used up after 2 years and 10 months

Good to know

After moving into a home, the house soon counts fully as an asset: after at most 6 months if a return home is ruled out from the start. If a return is still open, after at most 12 plus another 6 months. There is no exception for “sale in progress”.
The exact amount of supplementary benefits is calculated by the benefits office (Zusatzleistungsstelle) of the municipality of residence. If you apply within 6 months of moving into the home, they are paid from the month of entry, provided the conditions were met on the first day of that month.
Using your assets to pay for the home is not treated as giving up assets. But if the house is sold for less than 90% of its market value, the whole difference still counts as an asset (Vermögensverzicht, renunciation of assets). A house given away also still counts.
After death, supplementary benefits received are reclaimed from the estate to the extent it exceeds CHF 40,000 (for married couples only after both have died). Canton of Zurich allowances and top-up payments are, as a rule, reclaimed from the part above CHF 25,000.

Status 2026; values from 2027 are not included. Not included: health insurance premium and costs it does not pay, personal spending, mortgage interest and upkeep of the house, selling costs and property gains tax, interest on savings, and future changes to fees and pensions. The calculator does not replace advice.

Calculating for your mother or father? You will find the figures in the latest tax return, in the letters from the AHV and the pension fund, and in the home’s fee schedule.

What is the house worth today? Written valuation → What is left after a sale? Calculate property gains tax →

On this page

What does a care home in the Canton of Zurich cost per month?
Who pays for the care home when pension and savings are not enough?
Does the house have to be sold if a parent moves into a care home?
Do the children have to pay – and what is left of the inheritance?
To be honest
Frequently asked questions

The call comes on a Tuesday afternoon. Your mother has fallen. The doctor says one sentence that changes everything: going home is no longer possible.

Three weeks later, you sit at the kitchen table in your parents’ house, the folder in front of you. Pension statement, bank statement, last year’s tax return, and on top the home’s fee schedule (Taxordnung): CHF 258 a day. You do the sum: just under CHF 7,850 a month. Then comes the question nobody asks out loud: is the house gone now?

Perhaps it is your wife or husband who has to move into care after a diagnosis, and you stay on in the house you share. The fear is the same, only quieter.

The calculation behind it is shorter than it looks. It has three figures: care home costs, income, assets. And one question: does the wife or husband still live in the house?

There is an official calculator for supplementary benefits (Ergänzungsleistungen) at ahv-iv.ch. It only works for people who live at home.¹⁹ The calculator above works for the care home, with your figures and the rules that apply in the Canton of Zurich in 2026. The sections below show why it calculates the way it does.

Good to know: if you apply for supplementary benefits within 6 months of moving into the home, they are paid from the month of entry. The condition is that assets were already below the threshold on the first day of that month.³⁴

What care homes in the Canton of Zurich cost in 2026
Home, municipality	per day	per month
AGZ Wangensbach, Küsnacht	CHF 206–246	around CHF 6,260–7,480
Gesundheitszentrum Dielsdorf, Haus R, Regensdorf	CHF 221	around CHF 6,720
City of Winterthur care centres (Alterszentren)	CHF 248–258	around CHF 7,540–7,840
City of Zurich, Gesundheitszentren für das Alter, specialised care (Spezialisierte Pflege)	CHF 238–278	around CHF 7,240–8,450
Alterszentrum Region Bülach, care groups (Pflegewohngruppen)	CHF 258–263	around CHF 7,840–8,000
IMWIL, Haus D, Dübendorf	CHF 260–300	around CHF 7,900–9,120
Tertianum Residenz Zürich Enge, private	CHF 388–528	around CHF 11,800–16,050
Upper limit of supplementary benefits, Canton of Zurich	CHF 274	around CHF 8,330

Single room, local residents, care level 2 or higher: accommodation, support and your own care contribution of CHF 23 a day. Month = day × 30.4. Not included: health insurance premium, personal expenses, entry and exit fees, surcharges for the first 14 to 30 days, deposit. As of: City of Zurich valid since 1 January 2024 and unchanged in 2026, Winterthur as of 1 December 2023 and in force in 2026, Dübendorf valid from 1 March 2026, other fee schedules 2026. Sources: the homes’ fee schedules¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷; upper limit: Cantonal Social Welfare Office Zurich¹. Other municipal homes checked: Uster CHF 257–259, Kloten CHF 248–258, Meilen CHF 255–265 a day.²²²¹²³ There is no official average: the range comes from the published fee schedules.

What does a care home in the Canton of Zurich cost per month?

In the Canton of Zurich, a single room in a municipal home costs around CHF 6,260 to 9,120 a month in 2026.¹⁴¹³ The middle value of nine municipalities is CHF 257–258 a day, around CHF 7,800 a month. Private homes often charge more, in Zurich up to CHF 528 a day.¹⁷

The home calls this the daily rate (Tagestaxe). It covers room, meals, support and your care share. The care level, 1 to 12, measures the care needed. From level 2, your share is at most CHF 23 a day. Health insurer and municipality usually pay the rest.¹⁰⁸

So the care level usually changes your bill little. The home and the room matter more. A dementia unit costs CHF 5–25 a day extra.²¹¹²¹⁴ Residents from elsewhere often pay CHF 22–30 a day more.¹¹¹³²¹

What this means for you: work with your chosen home’s actual fee, plus the health insurance premium. A refundable deposit of CHF 5,000–8,000 usually comes on top.¹¹¹⁶

Who pays for the care home when pension and savings are not enough?

In the Canton of Zurich, supplementary benefits cover fees up to CHF 274 a day.¹² In all nine municipalities checked, there are single rooms whose fee is below this. They are not social assistance: in the Canton of Zurich they are paid independently of it.⁶

Entitlement only starts below CHF 100,000 in assets (couples 200,000).³ They also recognise personal expenses of CHF 6,890 a year and the health insurance premium.¹

Above CHF 274 a day, the cantonal allowance (Beihilfe) helps first, up to CHF 2,420 a year (for couples, per spouse). Conditions: long cantonal residence, assets up to CHF 37,500 (couples 60,000).⁶⁷

Cantonal top-up payments (Zuschüsse) cover the rest, only in recognised homes and up to CHF 30,000 in assets (couples 50,000).⁶⁷ A couple’s house counts only above CHF 300,000 tax value (from the tax return). Otherwise you pay.

Apply at your municipality’s benefits office. Within 6 months of entry, benefits run from the entry month if conditions were met.³⁴

Does the house have to be sold if a parent moves into a care home?

In the Canton of Zurich, supplementary benefits do not require a sale. But they pay nothing while a single person’s assets, house included, exceed CHF 100,000.³ The bill must still be paid. Key question: does a spouse still live there?

If a spouse stays, the house does not count towards the CHF 200,000 threshold.³ This applies whether you stay or your father does. Benefits then take the tax value, minus CHF 300,000 and the mortgage.⁴³ Yearly, part of the rest counts as income: the asset drawdown (Vermögensverzehr).⁶

If no spouse lives there any more, it counts as occupied for at most 6 months, 12 plus 6 if a return is open.⁵ Then it counts at today’s market value (Verkehrswert), minus the mortgage.⁴ A sale in progress does not extend this.⁵

That does not mean the house is gone. The house helps pay for the home, through a sale, letting or a larger mortgage. Sell below 90 per cent of market value, and the whole difference keeps counting.⁴

Worked example

Two families, the same figures: how long does the money last?

The starting values of the calculator above: a home at CHF 260 a day, a pension of CHF 3,500 for the person in the home, CHF 150,000 in savings, a CHF 300,000 mortgage. No helplessness allowance (Hilflosenentschädigung), so no AHV money for constant help in daily life. Family A: the widowed mother moves into the home alone; the house is worth CHF 1.5 million. Family B: the father moves into the home, the mother stays in the house, tax value CHF 1 million.

Care home costs per month (CHF 260 × 30.4 days): CHF 7,904
What is missing each month after the pension: CHF 4,404
Family A: how long the savings last: 2 years and 10 months
Family A: house after deducting the mortgage: CHF 1,200,000
Family A: supplementary benefits possible once everything together is below CHF 100,000: after 23 years and 7 months
Family B: savings below the CHF 200,000 limit: already below
Family B: what supplementary benefits count as income each year from house and savings: CHF 75,000
Family B: what is missing per year after the pension, for comparison: CHF 52,848

Calculated with the calculator above. Freely chosen figures, not a real family and not a supplementary benefits decision. Family A: the house has to help fund the home, and supplementary benefits only come into question very late. Family B: the house does not count towards the limit. What does count is the tax value above CHF 300,000 less the mortgage, plus savings, together less CHF 50,000: here CHF 500,000. Three quarters of that count as the father’s share, and a fifth of it per year as income. Because this income exceeds the shortfall, there are probably no supplementary benefits. The family then pays the shortfall from savings, later through the mortgage. Supplementary benefits recalculate the drawdown once a year; it falls as savings fall. Basis: Art. 9a and Art. 11 para. 1bis Federal Act on Supplementary Benefits (ELG), Art. 4 and 17a Ordinance on Supplementary Benefits (ELV). Also § 11 para. 3 Canton of Zurich Supplementary Benefits Act and the federal guidelines on supplementary benefits, annex 13.3. As of 2026.

The decisive lines of this calculation depend on the value of the house. Once no spouse lives there any more, supplementary benefits use the market value after a transition period, not the tax value. The written valuation gives you a documented basis for it, free of charge and even if the house is never sold.

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Do the children have to pay – and what is left of the inheritance?

In the Canton of Zurich, supplementary benefits reclaim money only from the part of an estate above CHF 40,000.³ During their parents’ lifetime, children pay only if they live in comfortable circumstances. That is Article 328 of the Swiss Civil Code.⁹ Supplementary benefits do not count such support as income.³

Only benefits paid from 2021 are reclaimed. For couples, only after the second partner’s death.³ A house in the estate generally counts at market value.⁴ Death-related costs do not reduce the estate here.¹

The Zurich cantonal allowance and top-up payments are stricter. As a rule, they are reclaimed from the part above CHF 25,000. Gifts to heirs from the last 5 years count too.⁶⁷

What this means for you: the inheritance is not simply gone. What your parents pay themselves reduces it anyway. If a house must be sold to repay supplementary benefits, the deadline extends from 3 months to up to a year.⁴ How siblings inherit a house together: joint heirs with a house.

To be honest

Where does this calculator stop?

The calculator shows how long savings and house last. It does not calculate an exact supplementary benefits amount. The binding calculation comes from the benefits office of your municipality; the cities of Zurich and Winterthur each have their own office.²⁰ Your entries stay in your browser.

A gift does not shield the house. A sale below 90 per cent of market value also counts as giving up assets (Vermögensverzicht): the whole difference keeps being counted and falls by only CHF 10,000 a year.⁴ Using your assets to pay documented care home costs, on the other hand, is not giving them up.⁵

The AHV helplessness allowance is CHF 630 or 1,008 a month in a care home.¹⁸ The calculator counts it as income. Supplementary benefits count it if the daily rate includes care and the home does not bill it separately.⁴⁵ Whether that applies in your home, the home’s management can tell you.

All values apply to 2026. Immosmile is an estate agent in the Canton of Zurich, not a legal or social advice service. Which homes and Spitex home-care services exist is explained by the information point every Zurich municipality must designate.⁸ What tax a sale costs on the gain is shown by the property gains tax calculator.

For daughters and sons

Researching this for your mother or father?

Often it is the children who gather the figures after the call from the hospital. Work with real figures first, and bring an answer instead of a guess. Discuss the result with your parents, not over their heads. That way the house stays their decision, and you stay the daughter or son who cares.

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What else do families in this situation read?

What else do families ask?

How much money can you have in the bank when you move into a care home?

In the Canton of Zurich, supplementary benefits have asset limits: they are paid only below CHF 100,000 in assets, or CHF 200,000 for married couples.³ Above that, you pay for the home yourself. A house where a spouse lives does not count. Once no spouse lives there any more, it counts after at most 6 months, or at most 18 if a return is open.⁵ For the Zurich cantonal allowance and top-up payments, the limits are lower.⁶

Can the social welfare office force me to sell my house?

In the Canton of Zurich, supplementary benefits do not require a sale. But they pay nothing while a single person has more than CHF 100,000 in assets, house included.³ Supplementary benefits are not social assistance: in the Canton of Zurich they are paid independently of it.⁶ The care home bill still has to be paid, from savings, later through a sale, letting or a larger mortgage.

Can I get supplementary benefits if I own a house?

In the Canton of Zurich, this is possible as long as you or your spouse live in it: then the house does not count towards the threshold of CHF 100,000 or CHF 200,000.³ CHF 112,500 of the tax value stays exempt. If one spouse lives in a care home and the other in the house, it is CHF 300,000.³ Each year, supplementary benefits count a fraction of the part above that as income, the asset drawdown.³⁶

Sell or let the house when a parent is in a care home?

In the Canton of Zurich, letting changes little for supplementary benefits: with no spouse in the house, it counts at market value after at most 6 months, or 18 if a return is open.⁴⁵ But the rent covers part of the monthly shortfall. A sale frees up cash. What suits your situation is shown in keep or sell the house when care is needed.

When do children have to pay for their parents in a care home?

In the Canton of Zurich, children only pay during their parents’ lifetime if they live in comfortable circumstances, as Article 328 of the Swiss Civil Code sets out.⁹ Supplementary benefits do not count such support as income.³ So the parents’ own money pays for the home first, then supplementary benefits.

Do you have to repay your parents’ supplementary benefits when you inherit?

In the Canton of Zurich, yes, from the estate, but only from the part above CHF 40,000 and only for benefits paid from 2021.³ For married couples, only after the second partner has died. For the Zurich cantonal allowance and top-up payments, the limit is lower, at CHF 25,000.⁶

What does a care home cost in the City of Zurich?

In the City of Zurich, a single room in the «Spezialisierte Pflege» (specialised care) service of the Gesundheitszentren für das Alter costs around CHF 238 to 278 a day in 2026.¹¹ Support and your care contribution are included; that is around CHF 7,240 to 8,450 a month. People living outside the city pay CHF 22 a day more.

Sources

Cantonal Social Welfare Office Zurich: supplementary benefits to AHV/IV, information for the implementing offices 2026, sections 1.1, 1.3, 2.2, tables 8.6, 8.12, in German · December 2025, retrieved 10 October 2026
Directives of the Cantonal Social Welfare Office on Zusatzleistungen, sections 2.2.5, 2.3.1, in German · as of 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Federal Act on Supplementary Benefits (ELG), Art. 9a, 10, 11, 12, 16a, transitional provision of 22 March 2019 (SR 831.30), in German · as of 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Ordinance on Supplementary Benefits (ELV), Art. 2, 4, 15b, 17, 17a–17c, 27, 27a (SR 831.301), in German · as of 1 January 2025, retrieved 10 October 2026
Federal Social Insurance Office: guidelines on supplementary benefits (WEL), marginal nos. 3390.01–02, 3442.02, 3458.01, 3533.22, annex 13.3, in German · as of 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Canton of Zurich Supplementary Benefits Act (Zusatzleistungsgesetz, ZLG), § 2, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 19a (LS 831.3), in German · amendment 133, as of 1 July 2026
Canton of Zurich Supplementary Benefits Ordinance (ZLV), § 18, 20, 22 (LS 831.31), in German · amendment 127, as of 1 January 2025
Canton of Zurich Care Act (Pflegegesetz), § 7, 9, 12 (LS 855.1), in German · amendment 123, as of 1 January 2024
Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), Art. 328 (SR 210), in German · as of 1 July 2026
Health Directorate of the Canton of Zurich: circular on standard deficits 2026, enclosure 1, in German · 28 August 2025, retrieved 10 October 2026
City of Zurich, Gesundheitszentren für das Alter: cost overview, specialised care, in German · valid from 1 January 2024, unchanged in 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
City of Winterthur: service and fee schedule of the care centres (8.1-1.1), annex 1, in German · as of 1 December 2023, retrieved 10 October 2026
IMWIL care and Spitex centre Dübendorf: fee schedule, residential care 2026, in German · valid from 1 March 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Gesundheitsnetz Küsnacht: AGZ Tägerhalde and Wangensbach, fees and price list, in German · valid from 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Stiftung Alterszentrum Region Bülach: price list 2026, in German · price list 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Gesundheitszentrum Dielsdorf, Regensdorf site: accommodation and support fees 2026 (annex R-I), in German · doc. 1346 of 13 November 2025, retrieved 10 October 2026
Tertianum Residenz Zürich Enge: rates, in German · valid from 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
AHV/IV information sheet 3.01: AHV old-age pensions and helplessness allowances, section 28 · as of 1 January 2026
AHV/IV information sheet 5.02: your entitlement to supplementary benefits · as of 1 January 2026
AHV/IV information sheet 5.01: supplementary benefits to AHV and IV, section 21 · as of 1 January 2025
City of Kloten: Pflegezentrum im Spitz, extract from the fee regulations, in German · as of 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Heime Uster: fees and fee schedule 2026, in German · care fees from 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026
Platten Meilen: prices and services 2026, in German · valid from 1 January 2026, retrieved 10 October 2026

General information without guarantee, not individual advice. The law, the tax assessment and advice from professionals for your situation are what count. Terms of use

The figure so much depends on

How long will your house carry the care home?

Whether it is two years or twenty depends above all on the market value of the house. The written valuation gives you a documented basis for it, free and without obligation, even if selling turns out not to be the right answer.