General information from a recorded webinar, not legal advice for your situation.

What is a continuing care retirement community?

Quick answer · 0:50 · From Life Care Planning: Protecting, Finding, and Paying for Care · Recorded Nov 20, 2025

Short answer

A continuing care retirement community lets you move in while independent and stay as your care needs grow, from assisted living up to skilled nursing. Many require a buy-in similar to buying a home, and some return part of it to your heirs. They take significant resources.

Key points

  • Age in place in one community.
  • Buy-in models are common.
  • Contracts vary, so read them closely.

Lauren FinkFounding attorney, Everbright Legacy Law

Read this part of the transcript

Another type of care facility model is a continuing care retirement community. A continuing care retirement community has what they call an age in place model, where it might be something that you move into when you are completely independent And some of these continuing care retirement communities will have a buy-in model to it, where you will pay an amount where you move in that might be similar to if you were to purchase a home or a condo. And then there will be provisions within your contract where if you start to require care, then they can provide you with assisted living services in the unit that you reside in, all the way up until you need skilled nursing care.

Created automatically from the recording. Full transcript on the webinar page.

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