Moving Into Senior Living in Georgia: The Paperwork, Step by Step

You picked the place. Now there's a packet, and the community wants it back before move-in day. This page is the list I go through with every family, in the order I'd do it, with what changes for assisted living, memory care, and independent living. Most of it is just gathering. Two or three items have a clock on them, and those are the ones that catch people.

The three things nobody warns you about

The physical has to be dated within 30 days of move-in, on the state's form. Every licensed assisted living community or personal care home in Georgia needs a physical exam report from a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant, dated within 30 days before admission, completed on the form the Department of Community Health publishes. Not a copy of last year's check-up. If you book the doctor before you've chosen a community, you may be doing it twice.

The TB test rides on that visit. The report has to show your parent is free of active tuberculosis. A skin test gets placed one day and read two or three days later; a blood test comes back in a day or two. Ask the community which one they accept, and ask the doctor for it at the same appointment as the physical.

The POLST conversation. A POLST is a medical order, on the state's form, about what to do in an emergency. It is signed by the doctor with your parent or their health care agent. Nobody wants to bring it up, so it doesn't get done, and then a memory care resident can't sign it later. Bring it up before the move.

Assisted living and personal care homes: what Georgia requires

The state rule that lists what a home keeps in every resident's file is the closest thing to an official checklist of what you'll be asked for. Here it is in plain English.

Identity. A photo ID, the Social Security number, the Medicare card and any other insurance cards, and, if your parent served, the DD-214. The home records veteran status; it matters for VA benefits.

People. Next of kin, the legal guardian or representative if there is one, and anyone else providing care (a home health agency, hospice, a private aide).

Care. The doctor, hospital, and pharmacy of record. Every diagnosis, any prescribed diet, and a current medication list with doses and times. Typing the medication list up before the visit saves a day of phone calls, and the doctor can sign off on it.

Decisions. A copy of the Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care, if your parent has one. It names a health care agent and records treatment preferences, and it needs two adult witnesses who aren't the agent and don't stand to inherit. A POLST if there is one, and any signed do-not-resuscitate order.

Money. The financial power of attorney or the court papers (guardianship or conservatorship) that let someone else sign and pay. The community can't accept a signature from someone who isn't on paper.

The community's own forms. The admission agreement, the Resident's Rights form, an inventory of what your parent brings, and the care plan the nurse writes after the assessment. The nurse's assessment is also what sets the care level and the care fee, so ask what it covers.

Memory care: one more line on the physical

A certified memory care center in Georgia needs the same 30-day physical, but the report also has to document a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, a need for placement in the center, and that your parent doesn't require round-the-clock skilled nursing. A physical done for assisted living can miss that line. If the placement shifts from assisted living to memory care, ask the doctor to amend the form rather than starting over.

Two more things are specific to memory care. Before admission, the center has to give you its written description: philosophy, services, staffing, activities, fees, and the discharge criteria. Read the discharge criteria. They describe the point at which the center can no longer keep your parent, and that's where placements come apart a year later. And within 14 days of admission the center writes an individual service plan, and the family is supposed to be part of it. Ask for that meeting.

Independent living: the community sets the list

Independent living isn't a licensed level of care in Georgia, so there's no state form and no required physical. Each community writes its own packet. Expect a lease or residency agreement, proof of age, income or asset verification, an emergency contact, and often renters insurance. Some ask for a short physician's statement that your parent can live independently. Entrance-fee and life-plan communities add financial and health underwriting on top.

Even though nothing requires it, bring copies of the advance directive and the power of attorney. If your parent has a fall in the dining room, the community can only act on documents it has.

The order I'd do it in

1. Ask for the packet the day you choose the community. Their forms plus the state's physical form. Read it once so the doctor's visit covers everything.
2. Book the doctor inside the 30-day window. Bring the packet. Ask for the TB test at the same visit. For memory care, make sure the diagnosis line is filled in.
3. Gather the decision and money documents. Advance directive, POLST or DNR if any, power of attorney, IDs, insurance cards, a typed medication list. If none of the decision documents exist yet, this is the week to do them, while your parent can still take part.
4. The nurse's assessment. In person or from the records. This sets the care level and the fee. It's a good moment to say out loud what a normal day looks like: what helps, what sets things off, what time they like to get up.
5. Read and sign the agreement. The fee schedule, what the base rate covers and what's extra, the notice periods for increases, the refund policy, the complaint procedure, and the discharge criteria. You get time to read it, and you keep a signed copy.
6. Pharmacy, move day, and the first week. Many communities use a preferred pharmacy that packages medications by dose. Then the move itself. Then a check-in a week later, which is usually when the real questions show up.

What the admission agreement has to spell out

Georgia's rules for assisted living communities require the written agreement to include a current statement of every fee and charge and the services the basic fee covers; at least 30 days' written notice before a personal-services rate increase and 60 days before a room-and-board increase; the refund policy; the complaint procedure; house rules; how medications are handled; and whether you can hire an outside caregiver. Nothing in it can waive a resident's rights. If a fee isn't in the agreement, ask where it's written down.

The bottom line

The packet is tedious, not hard. The physical and the TB test have a clock, the POLST needs a conversation, and everything else is gathering. Do the doctor's visit inside the window, bring the packet with you, and you'll walk into move-in day with nothing left to chase.

If you're still deciding between levels, memory care vs. assisted living explains the difference. If you haven't toured yet, start with the tour checklist. And if you'd like someone to go through this list with you, that's part of what I do.