Washington guide · Updated 10/28/2026
Questions to Ask on an Assisted Living Tour (Washington Checklist)
Ten questions that get you the real price and the real record. Print this or keep it open on your phone.
- Prices: Can you email me your full list of charges in writing (RCW 70.129.030)? What is the monthly rent for each apartment type, and what does each care level cost on top of rent?
- Care levels: How do you decide my parent's care level, and how often do you re-assess it? What usually pushes a resident into a higher-priced level?
- Move-in fee: Is there a one-time move-in or community fee? Is any of it refundable if we leave in the first months?
- Price increases: How much did rent and care fees go up in each of the last three years? How much notice do you give? (The law requires at least 30 days.)
- Services form: May I have your Disclosure of Services form, DSHS 10-351? (You must provide it on request.)
- Staffing: How many caregivers are on the floor during the day and overnight? Is a nurse on site, and for how many hours?
- Memory care: If memory care is needed later, can my parent move within this building? What does that cost? Are staff awake overnight in memory care?
- If money runs out: Do you accept Medicaid if my parent's savings run out, or would they need to move?
- Inspections: Your last state inspection is public. Can you walk me through what it found and what you changed?
- Leaving: How much notice do we give to move out, and are any fees charged after a resident leaves?
Before you go
Open the facility's page on our site to read its latest state inspection and complaint reports, so you can ask about specific findings. Then request prices in writing.