Reader question: How do I prepare my own termination of an Austrian care home contract with a verifiable end date and final accounting?
You want to give up your Austrian care-home place and move to another secure living arrangement. A private desire to move out and the effective end of the care-home contract must be consistent. Therefore first compare the contractual basis and the desired transition before treating a moving day as the definitive contract end date.
This article assumes a care-home contract within the scope of §27b KSchG. An ordinary tenancy agreement, student hall place or hospital stay is not generally handled according to the same termination rule. [KSchG27b]
Provide the contract and your decision
Secure the contract, amendments and the described procedure at contract end. §27d requires information on the contract duration and on the care-home operator’s procedure on termination. [KSchG27d] Which rooms and services are to end, and are there additionally separate contracts with third parties?
The resident’s own decision must remain recognisable. If a supporting person organises the process, it must be clarified who is authorised to make the declaration effectively. A family member is not automatically the authorised contractual party merely because they assisted.
Have the special termination rule applied
§27h paragraph 1 permits the care-home resident to give notice with one month’s notice to the respective month-end. Immediate termination for good cause remains reserved. [KSchG27h]
Let the end date be determined by your actual declaration and its receipt. A message “I’ll move out sometime next month” does not yet create a clear procedure. A merely desired immediate termination will not be designated as good cause without examination. For such a special case the concrete facts and individual advice are required.
Obtain the acknowledgement of receipt in fact
The care-home operator must confirm receipt of the termination in writing without delay to the resident, representative and trusted person. [KSchG27h] Keep the declaration actually submitted and the available proof of transmission. Compare the confirmation with the correct contract and the declared content.
If a confirmation is missing or contains a different end date, ask specifically. An existing confirmation is not replaced by your own differing calendar entry. At the same time a practical follow-up question is not a task for already existing legal objections.
Fictitious case with a still open subsequent accommodation
In the hypothetical case there is in principle a prospect of another place. The exact takeover date has, however, not yet been confirmed. Before making her termination declaration the resident checks the possible end date and clarifies in parallel from when the new living and care solution will actually be available.
She does not treat the non-binding prospect as a secure subsequent admission. The article does not assess nursing suitability; the responsible qualified persons remain accountable for that. It explains why the legal end and the actual transition should be prepared together.
Complete handover and final accounting
After the end has been clarified, personal items, rooms, keys and outstanding services are handed over in a verifiable manner. Record the actual date and any disputed points. Later invoices should make clear which period and which service they relate to.
An existing care-home deposit is settled as a separate item pursuant to §27g. [KSchG27g] Offsetting counterclaims and remaining credits must remain identifiable. The conclusion consists of declared and clarified contract end, actual handover and verifiable accounting. A general confirmation “moved out” does not replace this connected result.