On this page
- Do we have to sell the house if my partner or I need to move into care?
- Does a gift, or a right of residence for the children, protect against a cut in supplementary benefits?
- What do you actually pay yourself in a Zurich care home?
- What happens for tax if we sell because of a move into care?
- To be honest
- Frequently asked questions
Three weeks ago, he moved into a care home. She still lives in the house they have owned together for more than twenty years. One thought keeps coming back: are we about to lose our house because he is in care?
The daughter who researches for her parents in the evening knows the same worry. So does the son who read online that the family home should be signed over to the children early, with a right of residence as protection.
The answer turns on supplementary benefits (Ergänzungsleistungen) – a state top-up to the AHV or IV pension when it does not cover care and living costs. And on one term within it: the allowance (Freibetrag), the part of your wealth that is not counted at all in this calculation.
What most people miss: a gift often makes the calculation worse, not better.
| Rule | Figure | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold for any entitlement at all | CHF 100,000 single, CHF 200,000 couples | Art. 9a ELG |
| Allowance for the self-occupied house | CHF 112,500 | Art. 11(1)(c) ELG |
| Allowance when a spouse enters care | CHF 300,000 | Art. 11(1bis) ELG |
| General allowance on total net assets | CHF 30,000 single, CHF 50,000 couples | Art. 11(1)(c) ELG |
| Yearly asset drawdown (counted as extra income) | one tenth or one fifteenth | Art. 11(1)(c) ELG |
| Asset drawdown in care, Canton of Zurich | one fifth for old-age pensioners, otherwise one fifteenth | Art. 11(3) ZLG, Canton of Zurich |
Do we have to sell the house if my partner or I need to move into care?
Not automatically. If one spouse moves permanently into care, the allowance for the house rises from CHF 112,500 to CHF 300,000. This applies as long as the other spouse lives there. For a house with a tax value of CHF 1.4 million, that means CHF 187,500 less counted as assets.
The condition «occupied» matters most. If a single owner moves permanently into care, this protection stops. The house is then valued differently. It no longer uses the official tax value, but its full market value (Verkehrswert): the price a sale would fetch today.
What this means for you: the higher allowance lowers the counted assets while one of you still lives there. At Zurich house values, a large part is still counted as income every year. Once nobody lives there, the full value counts. The home check shows which of three paths fits: stay deliberately, adapt, or explore alternatives.
Which of the three paths suits your situation shows up in six questions, in about two minutes, with no intention to sell.
Does a gift, or a right of residence for the children, protect against a cut in supplementary benefits?
No, often the opposite is true. Giving the house to your children, or handing it over below market value, counts as a waiver of assets (Vermögensverzicht). This means giving up assets without anything of equal value in return. The waived amount is still counted as if you owned it, at full market value. It does not get the allowance a self-occupied house enjoys.
The full amount also counts towards the basic entitlement threshold, unlike your own occupied house. The amount falls automatically by CHF 10,000 a year, though for a house worth several hundred thousand francs, that takes many years.
What this means for you: a right of residence lets you live in the house. A usufruct (Nutzniessung) goes further and also allows letting it out. Neither removes the house from the calculation, since its annual value still counts as income. Have any handover checked by a notary. This later affects what applies to a community of heirs, if siblings see the gift differently.
Worked example
A couple, one partner in care: how the allowance works
A couple, both drawing an AHV old-age pension, own a mortgage-free house in the Canton of Zurich with a tax value of CHF 1,400,000. The husband moves permanently into care; the wife stays in the house. A freely chosen example, not a real property.
- Tax value of the house
- CHF 1,400,000
- Allowance once in care (instead of CHF 112,500)
- CHF 300,000
- Amount above the allowance
- CHF 1,100,000
- Share allocated to the husband in care (three quarters)
- CHF 825,000
- Share allocated to the wife at home (one quarter)
- CHF 275,000
- Less counted as assets, from the care allowance alone
- CHF 187,500
- Of this, counted as income each year (asset drawdown on the care share, rough range)
- roughly CHF 157,500 to 165,000
| Cost type | Figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Your share of care costs in a home | roughly CHF 23 per day | Art. 9, Canton of Zurich Care Act |
| Your share for Spitex care at home | roughly CHF 7.70 per day | Art. 9, Canton of Zurich Care Act |
| Accommodation, meals and support in the home | generally paid by you | Art. 12, Canton of Zurich Care Act |
| Remaining care costs after your insurer and your share | covered by your former home municipality | Art. 9, Canton of Zurich Care Act |
| A home your municipality neither runs nor contracts | the municipality pays only a fixed contribution | Art. 15, Canton of Zurich Care Act |
What do you actually pay yourself in a Zurich care home?
Roughly CHF 23 a day for the care itself. Your health insurer pays a fixed contribution to the care costs. You pay at most this legal amount, on top of your deductible and co-payment. For Spitex care at home, it is half that, roughly CHF 7.70 a day. If your care needs are low, your share can be lower, and the municipality can cover some or all of it.
On top come accommodation, meals and support in the home – what people informally call the «hotel» or «support» charge. These costs are generally yours to pay. What is left after your insurer and your own share is covered by the municipality where you lived before moving into care.
What this means for you: if you choose a home your municipality neither runs nor has contracted, it often pays only a fixed contribution. The rest can fall to you. The advice point every Zurich municipality must provide for care questions can tell you which home fits your municipality.
What happens for tax if we sell because of a move into care?
In most cases, property gains tax applies. This is the tax on the profit from a sale. It falls with the length of ownership. From five full years, it drops by 5 per cent. After that, it falls by exactly 3 points per further full year, up to a 50 per cent reduction from twenty full years. Gains under CHF 5,000 stay tax-free.
The tax deferral for a replacement purchase (Ersatzbeschaffung) usually does not apply here. It only applies if you buy another self-occupied home. A move into care, or into a rented flat, does not meet that condition.
What this means for you: after the sale, the proceeds become ordinary assets, taxed at full market value. For supplementary benefits, the house allowance then falls away, and the proceeds newly count towards the threshold of CHF 100,000 or CHF 200,000. Calculating property gains tax for your house in the Canton of Zurich shows the figure in advance.
For daughters and sons
Researching this for your parents?
You often notice it before your parents do: the stairs, the route to the care home, the question of whether the house still fits. Show them this page first, not a decision already made. That way, your parents see that nobody is pushing them into anything. And you stay the daughter or son who cares, not the one who decides.
To be honest
Not every question belongs with an estate agent.
Before any decision, the official, free calculator for supplementary benefits at ahv-iv.ch helps. It checks anonymously whether an entitlement exists or would arise, before any thought of a sale or a gift becomes concrete. For people already in care, it points to the care home management instead.
The supplementary benefits office of your home municipality handles the application itself, not Immosmile. In the Canton of Zurich, this runs through a dedicated municipal office, with the cities of Zurich and Winterthur each having their own.
Handing the house to the children with a reserved right of residence or usufruct needs a notary: the land registry entry, the scope of the right, and documentation of the market value. A mistake here often only shows up years later, in the benefits calculation.
For care-financing questions in your specific case, every Zurich municipality has its own advice point. The remaining cost – what is left after your insurer and your own share – is covered by the municipality where you lived before moving into care.
If you already receive supplementary benefits, a sale of the house, a move into or out of care, and any gift must be reported to the responsible office immediately, whether or not an agent is currently instructed.
Related topics
What else do owners in your situation read?
- Care home cost calculator, Canton of ZurichA parent has to move into a care home – how long will the money last, and what happens to the house?
- Sell first or buy first?We are swapping the house for a flat – how do selling and buying fit together safely?
- Inheritance and heirsWe inherited our parents’ home – sell, take over or keep?
- Right of residence and usufructWe hand the house to our children and stay – right of residence or usufruct, and what does it mean for a sale?
- Property valuation with net calculationWhat is my home worth – and what is left after tax and costs?
What else do owners ask?
Does a gift to the children protect our house from a cut in supplementary benefits?
No, often the opposite. A gift counts at full market value, without the allowance for an occupied house, and also counts towards the entitlement threshold. The counted amount falls only slowly, by CHF 10,000 a year.
Do we have to sell the house if my partner or I need care?
Not automatically. If the other partner keeps living in the house, the allowance rises from CHF 112,500 to CHF 300,000. Whether that is enough depends on your house’s actual tax value.
What do you actually pay yourself in a Zurich care home?
Roughly CHF 23 a day for care, or CHF 7.70 for Spitex care at home. Accommodation, meals and support are generally yours to pay. The remaining care costs after your insurer and your share are covered by your former home municipality.
What happens if a single owner moves permanently into a care home?
The allowance’s protection ends once nobody lives in the house any more. For supplementary benefits, the full market value then counts instead of the official tax value.
Is a right of residence or a usufruct worthwhile if we hand the house to our children?
It depends on your case. It is no free pass: the right’s annual value still counts as income. Right of residence and usufruct compared sets out the differences.
Is property gains tax due if we sell because of a move into care?
Yes, in most cases. The deferral for a replacement purchase only applies when buying another self-occupied home. A move into care does not meet that condition.
Sources
- Federal Act on Supplementary Benefits (ELG), Art. 9, 9a, 10, 11, 11a, 16a (SR 831.30), in German · as of 1 January 2026, retrieved 8 October 2026
- Ordinance on Supplementary Benefits (ELV), Art. 4, 17, 17a–17e, 27a (SR 831.301), in German · as of 1 January 2025, retrieved 8 October 2026
- Canton of Zurich Supplementary Benefits Act (ZLG), Art. 11 (LS 831.3), in German · amendment 133, as of 1 July 2026
- Canton of Zurich Care Act, Art. 9, 12, 15 (LS 855.1), in German · amendment 123, as of 1 January 2024
- Canton of Zurich Tax Act (StG), Art. 216, 225 (LS 631.1), in German · amendment 132, as of 1 April 2026
- Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG), Art. 25a (SR 832.10), in German · as of 1 July 2026
- Ordinance on Health Insurance Benefits (KLV), Art. 7a, 7c (SR 832.112.31), in German · as of 1 August 2026
- Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), Art. 745, 746, 758, 776, 777 (SR 210), in German · as of 1 July 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
