# Caring for someone with dementia?

**A guide for family carers · Romania.** Make a plan for what matters today. Then check the wording on the person’s valid certificate and the support your family may be able to request.

Keep the questions, documents and people who can help in one place. Legal sources and amounts were checked on 16 October 2026. This is not a clinical review.

## A care plan

A useful plan answers practical questions. Write down only what the family needs for its next step and discuss it with the person and the professionals who know them.

- Which routines and choices matter to the person?
- Which activities do they want or accept help with?
- What can each family member take on without promising more than they can do?
- Who could cover for the main carer for a few hours or days?
- What do you want to ask the doctor, local social service and DGASPC?
- What is the first step, who will take it, and by when?

[Download the A4 family carer sheet (PDF)](/dementa-apartinatori/assets/checklist-en.pdf). It is designed to print and complete on paper; the website does not keep answers.

## The valid disability certificate and grade printed on it

Choose only wording you can read on the valid certificate. A choice on the web page stays in the current tab; it is not saved or sent anywhere. Do not infer a grade from diagnosis, age, MMSE, support needs or whether the person lives alone. The adult assessment commission decides the grade after a complex evaluation. If a valid certificate exists but you do not have it with you, ask for a copy and check its exact wording; its absence from your hands does not mean a new assessment is needed. Ask for the assessment application list only if there is no valid certificate.

### Adult social benefits in 2026

| Grade on certificate | Monthly allowance | Monthly complementary budget |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Grav (severe) | 529 lei | 199 lei |
| Accentuat (marked) | 350 lei | 146 lei |
| Mediu (moderate) | — | 80 lei |
| Ușor (mild) | Article 58(4) does not list a monthly adult benefit for this grade. | |

The values were published by [DGASPC Sector 6](https://www.asistentasociala6.ro/dgaspc6/dps/spsf) and maintained in a [7 April 2026 notice from DGASPC Vrancea](https://dgaspcvn.ro/noutati-privind-prestatiile-sociale-aprilie-2026/). Article 57 provides for payment starting the month after classification. In 2026, the social reference indicator remains at its December 2025 level. These amounts are not a personal total and do not include other routes.

Article 58(4) says these benefits are payable regardless of income, subject to the exclusions in paragraph (6). Exclusions include publicly funded residential care for more than one month (except respite care), detention, and an adult with grav or accentuat who has income and receives care from a **professional personal assistant**. That is a different role from the personal assistant under Articles 42–43. Ask DGASPC how the rule applies to the person.

Main source: [Law 448/2006, Articles 57–58](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/305569).

## Three benefit routes to check separately

### 1. Grade-linked benefits — Article 58

The allowance and complementary budget in the table depend on the adult’s grade and legal exclusions. Ask DGASPC which documents are needed to start payment and when it begins.

### 2. Personal assistant or the Article 43 allowance

For an adult with grav, except grav visual, the law provides a choice between a personal assistant and the monthly Article 43 allowance. Submit the choice in writing to DGASPC; it takes effect after DGASPC’s written agreement. The allowance is tied to the net salary of a personal assistant at grade 0 and is paid by the local authority.

DGASPC Sector 3 lists 2,699 lei from 1 July 2026 for a certificate marked “grav with personal assistant”. This is an administrative value published for that place and date, not a fixed amount in the law. Article 43 has its own exclusions, including publicly funded residential care for more than one month (except respite care) and detention.

### 3. Companion allowance with a grade-I invalidity pension

If the person also has a grade-I invalidity pension decision and a grav disability certificate, Law 448/2006 provides a choice between the pension-law companion allowance and a personal assistant. This choice is retained when the invalidity pension converts to an old-age pension. Bucharest’s Public Pension House reported 2,163 lei a month from 1 July 2026. The amount is linked to the gross minimum wage and requires a separate grade-I pension decision. Ask DGASPC and the local pension house which route applies.

Article 58 benefits may be paid alongside a care route if none of the paragraph (6) exclusions applies. For an adult with grav, Article 42 provides a choice between a personal assistant and the Article 43 allowance; where the person also has a grade-I invalidity pension, it provides a choice between a personal assistant and the pension-law companion allowance. **Do not add these routes into a personal total.** Ask DGASPC and the pension house to confirm in writing which rights can be paid together in this case.

Sources: [Law 448/2006, Articles 42–43 and 57–58](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/305569); [Law 360/2023, Articles 67 and 72](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/292700); [Government Decision 146/2026](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/308231); [Bucharest Public Pension House](https://www.cpmb.ro/noutati/informare-privind-incidenta-prevederilor-legii-nr-44-2026-a-bugetului-asigurarilor-sociale-de-stat-pe-anul-2026-in-sistemul-public-de-pensii/); [DGASPC Sector 3](https://dgaspc3.ro/servicii-dgaspc/ajutoare-sociale/copii-si-persoane-adulte-cu-handicap/indemnizatii-insotitor-pentru-adultul-cu-handicap-grav-cu-asistent-personal/).

## Preparing the assessment application

Ask the DGASPC responsible for the person’s domicile or residence for its current list. The national procedure sets basic documents, while each DGASPC publishes a detailed procedure; the list can differ.

Basic documents may include an application, identity document, specialist medical report and, for a first assessment, a family doctor’s letter. Add relevant discharge records or test results, the town hall social inquiry and proof of work, pension or no income, as applicable. The procedure allows filing at the town hall or DGASPC registry. A complex assessment comes before the adult commission’s decision. If the person cannot travel, the procedure provides for a home assessment based on a medical letter and social inquiry.

Sources: [Framework procedure under Order 2298/2012, Articles 7–15](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0IECDXJOLK7W93LKPNJQRJV9DD); [Law 448/2006, Articles 85–87](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/305569); [current criteria, Joint Order 2300/1457/2025, Annex 1](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/304068). Diagnosis, age, MMSE, autonomy or living alone do not let a family assign the grade in place of the commission.

## Carer’s leave

Romania’s Labour Code provides five paid working days per calendar year. For this leave, “relative” means the employee’s son, daughter, mother, father or spouse; there is a separate route for a person who lives in the same household as the employee. The serious medical problem must significantly limit basic and instrumental daily activities and require support from another person. The annex to Joint Order 2172/3829/2022 includes forms of dementia that do not require hospitalisation or admission to a permanent-care centre; the general Article 1 test still applies.

Make a written request. Within 30 working days after submitting it, provide the employer with the required proof of the relationship or shared household and the medical problem. Ask the doctor for the medical document specified in the order. A special law or the applicable collective agreement may provide more than five days.

Sources: [Labour Code, Articles 152¹ and 153¹(4)](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/309240); [Joint Order 2172/3829/2022, Articles 2–4 and annex](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/263025).

## A resource for carers

The World Health Organization’s [iSupport programme](https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/treatment-care/isupport/) offers material about being a carer, everyday care and looking after your own health. WHO does not list a Romanian-language adaptation; this is not a local Romanian service.

## Sources and limits

Legislation and institutional pages were checked on **16 October 2026**. Amounts can change, and procedures or forms differ by county and sector. The legal rules and amounts are due for review by 31 December 2026, before known statutory changes in 2027.

This is a care-planning and administrative orientation guide, not individual legal advice, a diagnosis or a treatment recommendation. The sources were checked; the material has not been clinically reviewed. Ask the responsible institution to confirm the conditions and amounts for the person.