Compassionate legal advice for you or the ones you love
When it’s time to downsize or move out of the family home, retirement living seems the obvious choice – but there’s more to it than meets the eye. Similarly, aged care is a service we put great trust in, despite not knowing the ‘ins and outs’. With advice from FCM, you can rest assured you’ll have the right legal advice at a time in life that can be stressful and emotional.
Before establishing FCM, Greg Flood spent time as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of a nationwide facilitator of retirement and aged care living, gaining thorough knowledge of the complexities involved. His keen interest and skill in the area then led Greg to the role of CEO of an aged care trust, where he was able to combine his legal knowledge with compassion and care.
This experience, spanning 12 years, is the guiding force behind FCM’s expertise today. Greg regularly represents the FCM team on visits to retirement villages and aged care centres across Victoria, providing sympathetic, sensible legal knowledge to those in care, and giving care. When it comes to legal advice for the latter stages of life, FCM is the shoulder you can lean on.
Our retirement village and aged care advice covers:
- Reviewing retirement village contracts
- Reviewing aged care regime contracts
- Distilling of aged care contracts when time-sensitive decisions for your loved ones need to be made
- Comparison of contracts over face-to-face meetings to help you enter aged care decisions fully-informed
- Explanation of the deferred payment methods used in many aged care facilities
- Confidence for your family in understanding the contract for your loved one
- Understanding how you pay for care and accommodation, how you fund these payments, how long you have to pay, and how quickly you need to make a decision
- Understanding stamp duty payments on retirement village properties
- Demystifying aged care specific language often used in aged care agreements.
Many providers may have up to 27 different contracts in place within the one retirement village. This means that yourself or your loved one’s contract is likely different to each of your neighbour’s. For this reason, it’s important to understand the particular nature of your own contract. This is where FCM can help – with empathy, care and decades of experience.
FAQs
What sort of information do I need to bring to an appointment with you?
Please bring along any documents you’ve been given by the retirement village(s) you’re considering, along with any details of the sale, potential sale, or intended sale of the home yourself or your loved one will be vacating before moving into retirement living.
You will also need details of your financial planner, if you have one, and paper to take notes during our appointment time.
Are you available to come and speak at my retirement village?
At FCM, we’re passionate about spreading knowledge across the retirement village and aged care sector, helping staff, loved ones and those in care understand the legal terminology in place surrounding their living circumstances. Please get in touch via the contact details on this website to organise a session that will benefit and empower your retirement community.
What should I be wary of in retirement village contracts?
The complex nature of retirement village and aged care living contracts often means families do not understand the finer details of the agreement their loved ones have entered into.
One such misconception surrounds the payment of fees at the end of a retirement village tenant’s tenure. When a retirement village tenant moves out, or on, the retirement village will not only charge a deferred fee, but a fee for the refurbishment of the unit that was lived in as well.
This can lead to disagreements surrounding the cost of refurbishment between families and the retirement village facilitator, particularly given that these costs have increased substantially in recent times. What used to be a $40,000 refurbishment fee in many circumstances, has grown to an average of $90,000. This wipes out a lot of inheritances, or part of inheritances, causing distress for some families.
I’ve already entered a retirement village contract. Can you still help me?
We can help you understand retirement village and aged care contracts before, during and after making a decision about you or your loved ones’ care. Just because you have already made a decision about yourself or your relative’s living circumstances, it does not mean you are powerless in understanding the terms at play. Discussing your current contract with our trusted team can help you better communicate what your agreement means for loved ones when the time comes.
I’ve been told I don’t pay stamp duty on my purchase in a retirement village. Is this true?
If the retirement village you’re purchasing within is a loan license retirement village, which most retirement villages are, then yes – there will be no stamp duty on your purchase.
To understand what kind of retirement village you’re considering purchasing from, please speak with our team. We’ll ensure you know the upfront costs before you make this decision.