California Health and Safety Code 1569.652 – (a) A residential care facility for the elderly shall not …
(a) A residential care facility for the elderly shall not require advance notice for terminating an admission agreement upon the death of a resident. No fees shall accrue once all personal property belonging to the deceased resident is removed from the living unit.
(b) Upon the death of a resident, a licensee shall not impede the removal of the resident’s personal property from the facility during reasonable hours by an individual or individuals authorized by the resident or the resident’s responsible person, as identified in the admission agreement or attachment, or by a court-appointed executor or administrator of the decedent‘s estate, if applicable.
Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1569.652
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Residential care facility for the elderly: means a housing arrangement chosen voluntarily by persons 60 years of age or over, or their authorized representative, where varying levels and intensities of care and supervision, protective supervision, or personal care are provided, based upon their varying needs, as determined in order to be admitted and to remain in the facility. See California Health and Safety Code 1569.2
(c) A refund of any fees paid in advance covering the time after the resident’s personal property has been removed from the facility shall be issued to the individual, individuals, or entity contractually responsible for the fees or, if the deceased resident paid the fees, to the resident’s estate, within 15 days after the personal property is removed.
(d) If fees are assessed while a resident’s personal property remains in a unit after the resident is deceased, a licensee shall, within three days of becoming aware of the resident’s death, provide to the resident’s responsible person, or other individual or individuals as identified in the admission agreement or attachment, written notice of the facility’s policies regarding contract termination upon death and refunds.
(e) This section shall not apply to fees charged by a continuing care equity project as defined in paragraph (6) of subdivision (e) of Section 1771 or amounts deducted from entrance fee refunds or repayments described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (r) of Section 1771.
(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 290, Sec. 1. (AB 261) Effective January 1, 2014.)