Retirement village contract check Victoria: request and exit estimate

What is a retirement village contract check?

It is an operator-prepared financial snapshot estimating what you would owe and receive if you left on a specified date. It uses your actual agreements and circumstances. The figures are estimates, not a promise of a sale price or guaranteed refund.

It is useful before discussing an aged-care move, planning another home, or asking why a deferred management fee is increasing. It does not replace a valuation, legal advice or a final settlement statement.

Is a contract check free?

The operator must give existing residents a free annual contract check each calendar year. You can also request a check at any time. A separately requested check may attract a fee unless you have already given at least 28 days written notice of your intention to leave; in that case the operator must not charge for the requested check. Ask about any charge in advance rather than assuming that every additional request is free.

The operator must also help a resident who needs assistance making the request. Do not send a notice of intention to leave just to obtain a free check unless you actually intend to give that notice.

How long does a retirement village contract check take?

Without a requested meeting: the operator must provide the written check within 30 days of receiving the request.
If you ask to discuss it at a meeting: the operator must respond in writing within 7 days, hold the meeting within 30 days, and give a written summary within 7 days after the meeting. You may bring a support person or representative.
Annual check: it must be supplied each calendar year, no later than 14 days after the anniversary of the previous annual check being given.

Record when your request was delivered, and whether you asked for the meeting option. These are different procedures, not a single deadline for all responses.

What should the exit estimate include?

Owner resident

Obligations when terminating, selling or vacating; reasonable estimated sale price; itemised departure costs such as deferred management fees, gain/loss sharing, sale costs and agreed renovation costs; estimated amount received; and insurance arrangements.

Non-owner resident

What must be done to end the agreement or permanently vacate, the reasonable estimated exit entitlement, and village insurance arrangements. Ask the operator to identify any contractual deductions and conditions in the estimate.

Check the date of the calculation: CAV says contract-check figures should assume leaving on the date stated in the check, which must be the date of the check or within 30 days after it. A made-up five-year sale-price forecast is not the statutory check.

Five questions to check a retirement village exit calculation

Which signed contract version, commencement date and owner/non-owner arrangement was used?
What is the estimated starting entitlement, and what is each separate deduction—deferred management, capital share, outstanding fees, sale-related costs or agreed renovations?
Which figures are known, which depend on a sale or other future event, and what assumptions have been made?
When is payment due under this contract and applicable legislation? The new 12-month maximum does not automatically replace the rules for a pre-1 May 2026 agreement.
What happens to the estimate or possible advance payments if the resident needs residential aged care before the full exit entitlement is available?

Read the Victorian retirement village exit-fees guide · Check the relevant contract date · Understand aged-care accommodation costs.

Copy a contract-check request letter

Edit this text, then copy it into your own email to the village operator. It is not sent, uploaded or saved by this site. Delete any requests that do not apply, and use the actual signed agreement and an authorised representative where needed.

Editable written request

Subject: Request for a retirement village contract check

Hello [operator/manager],

I am a current resident of [village and unit]. I would like a contract check under the Victorian retirement village requirements, using the approved form. Please confirm when you received this request.

Please provide a dated written estimate based on my current signed residence and management agreements, including amendments. Please identify the date assumed for leaving and each amount payable or deducted.

Please include the requirements for ending my agreement and permanently vacating the home, relevant deferred management or departure fees, any capital gain or loss sharing, outstanding charges, any sale/renovation costs that apply, my estimated exit entitlement, and the village insurance details. Where an item does not apply, please say so rather than leaving it blank.

Please specify whether I am being treated as an owner or non-owner resident and explain the calculations, assumptions and any uncertain values. If an item depends on the future sale price or another event, please identify that separately rather than presenting it as guaranteed.

[Choose one: Please provide the written check / I would like to discuss the check at a meeting with a support person present.]

Please confirm whether any fee applies to this requested check before preparing it. This is not a notice of intention to leave unless I separately give that notice in writing.

Please reply by email with the check or meeting arrangements and the relevant contact person. Thank you.

[Resident or authorised representative]
[Preferred return email]

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Not yet a resident? Request the pre-signing exit examples instead

The annual contract check is for current residents. When comparing an offer before entering, ask for the information statement, complete agreement and written exit-cost examples. For a residence contract entered on or after 1 May 2026, the contract must include reasonable estimates of costs and charges if the person leaves after 1, 2, 5 and 10 years of residence. This is different from a personalised contract check about leaving now.

Documents before signing a village agreement · Printable visit checklist and written request.

What if the written estimate seems wrong or never arrives?

Ask the operator to show the relevant clauses, calculation method and assumptions and to correct or explain each disputed item in writing. The official check must allow questions in writing or at a meeting. If it is missing or disputed, contact Consumer Affairs Victoria for current options and seek independent advice before relying on an expected payout.

Do not assume a historical village agreement gives the same departure timing or deductions as a contract signed in 2026. Keep the operator’s reply, dated check and relevant contract pages together.

Official sources

Source review: 13 November 2026. Independent educational information about Victorian retirement villages; not a personalised legal, retirement or aged-care funding assessment. The operator’s approved-form check and your actual agreement control individual figures.

How to request a retirement village contract check in Victoria