When placing an elderly relative in a nursing home, verify administrative filing with civil affairs authorities and sign a written contract: security deposits are capped at 12 months' bed fees in dedicated bank escrow accounts

Legitimate eldercare institutions must register with civil affairs authorities and execute written contracts with residents or their guardians. Security deposits are legally capped at 12 months of that resident's monthly bed fee, and service fees can only be prepaid for up to 12 months. All deposits and membership fees must be deposited directly into bank-supervised escrow accounts. Never wire money to personal accounts or accept generic cash receipts without formal invoices.

Zero financial fee. Spend half a day calling local county-level civil affairs bureaus or requesting the facility's official administrative filing receipt, then cross-reference service agreements, fee schedules, and escrow bank accounts. The challenge is hesitating to scrutinize contracts when nursing home beds are scarce.

Ministry of Civil Affairs regulations mandate that eldercare institutions must file with local civil affairs authorities within 10 working days of admitting residents, who then issue an official filing receipt. Facilities must execute written service agreements detailing nursing care tiers, billing standards, refund terms, and breach liabilities; failure to execute agreements warrants administrative warnings and fines up to 30,000 RMB. Joint directives issued in 2024 by seven national ministries established strict caps on advance fees: eldercare operational service fees may be collected for a maximum of 12 months in advance; security deposits cannot exceed 12 times the individual resident's monthly bed fee. Deposits may only be utilized for fee refunds, emergency medical advances, billing arrears, and tort indemnification. Publicly operated and public-private partnership (PPP) eldercare facilities are strictly prohibited from charging membership fees; uncompleted facilities not yet capable of admitting seniors cannot charge membership fees. All deposits and membership funds must be deposited into third-party bank-supervised escrow accounts, with individual employee personal accounts strictly banned and formal tax invoices mandatory. Upon contract termination prior to check-in, facilities must issue full advance refunds promptly; after admission, unused portions must be refunded in a lump sum via the original payment channel. Under 2025 escrow implementation rules, custodian banks must disburse refunds within 1 to 2 business days of receiving facility requests.

Individual provinces may enact even shorter deposit caps or prepayment limits; verify provincial rules before signing. Model contracts published by provincial civil affairs and market supervision departments provide standard legal baselines. Because administrative filing occurs post-admission, recently opened homes may be actively completing filing procedures. If refund disputes arise, avenues include civil mediation, administrative complaints to civil affairs bureaus (free of charge), arbitration, and civil litigation. Elder care investment scams promising fixed financial returns are addressed in Chapter 17, Rule 5. Primary beneficiaries are your elderly parents and grandparents.

民政部 (2020). 养老机构管理办法（民政部令第 66 号，第十、十二、十六、四十六条）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-09/19/content_5544761.htm；民政部、国家发展改革委、公安部等七部门 (2024). 关于加强养老机构预收费监管的指导意见（民发〔2024〕19 号，第四、五、六、八、九条）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202405/content_6950308.htm；民政部办公厅、金融监管总局办公厅 (2025). 关于印发《养老机构预收费存管工作指引》的通知（民办发〔2025〕9 号）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202511/content_7049045.htm；国家市场监督管理总局. 合同示范文本库（各省养老机构服务合同示范文本，如甘肃省 2024 版）. https://htsfwb.samr.gov.cn/View?id=8377c6f9-b7f8-4cb4-a218-0e5b65de5cce