Three Nuns Escape from a Nursing Home….
One of our favorite news stories of 2025 has an unlikely starring cast: three octogenarian nuns. With a few notable exceptions (Sound of Music, all the Sister Acts…) nuns are generally not stealing the show. They’re known for being docile, obedient, neither seen nor heard. This is one of the reasons we so enjoy them being the headliners of a story that explores what it means to age in place, on one’s own terms.
We’re of course referring to the saga of Sisters Rita, Regina, and Bernadette, the three Catholic nuns whose story has written headlines around the globe such as Nuns on the Run, Defiant Nuns Flee, and Nuns Who Escaped Nursing Home.
According to the multitude of news coverage, Sisters Rita (82), Regina (86) and Bernadette (88) resided at a monastery that housed a convent and school in Eslbethen, Austria for virtually their entire lives. (Bernadette since 1955!) Three years ago, with the number of sisters dwindling below the minimum required by applicable rules, the Vatican appointed a spiritual leader for the remaining sisters (a “provost”), and the monastery itself was transferred to two different entities, with the agreement that the sisters could live there for their lifetimes “as long as it is medically and spiritually reasonable.”
The came the drama. According to the provost put in charge of the sisters, his hand was forced after the sisters underwent several hospitalizations and as the convent deteriorated. While the church says the sisters were consulted, one Sister reported: “The ambulance took me to a nursing home in my nightgown. I was shocked.” Either way, the result was that the three nuns were placed in a nursing home in late 2023, over their objections.
The sisters appealed to the provost but would not be heard. Almost a full two years later, they took action. The sisters literally broke back into the convent in September 2025. Dozens of supporters provided food and money and care. They hired U-Hauls and a locksmith. They created an Instagram page with the consent of the sisters to document their exploits, currently with over 270,000 followers.
Though back home, the drama is not over. As of the date of this blog post, the sisters do not have a formal agreement with the church to remain at the convent. The most recent offer made by the church was to allow the sisters to stay in the convent as long they cease their social media presence, fire their lawyers, and agree to leave the convent when they need care, among other conditions. The sisters have rejected it.
As elder law attorneys, we see some teaching points:
1. “It’s in their best interest.” This is the official statement from the PR firm hired by the Provost to handle the current negotiations with the sisters. Their position being, the sisters were informed they would be moved, and it’s in their best interest.
We see lots of family members, most of them very well-intentioned, who want to move their parent or grandparent out of their longtime home because it’s “in their best interest.” Legally speaking, unless someone is adjudicated incompetent, their desires and preferences take precedent over “best interest”. Until that time, as the saying goes, everyone has the right to make bad decisions. Maybe it is a bad idea for the sisters to live in that big old convent instead of the nursing home. Maybe it’s not. Either way, it’s their decision to make, for as long as they are able to make informed decisions. (At least, according to Wisconsin law.)
2. Least restrictive settings. Even if the sisters were found to be incompetent to make decisions, and in need of care, one of the big issues that comes up in guardianship court is “what is the least restrictive setting consistent with this person’s needs?” Just because someone needs assistance with care, doesn’t mean they need it in a skilled nursing facility.
The church has explained that the nursing home is the “safest” place for the nuns. The convent is big, old, multiple stories, lots of stairs, lots of risk, etc.
On the flip side, the sisters say the stairs are no issue if the chair lift would be reinstalled. And, they seem to have no shortage of people willing to assist them round the clock. If the physical environment can be made safe enough, and there are plenty of people willing to provide the assistance they need, then is the nursing home too restrictive a setting for their needs?
In the elder law world, we consider issue all the time. If someone wants to stay in their home, but the current arrangement is not working, is there something that can be done to make it work? Would grab bars in the bathroom and a ramp to the front door resolve accessibility issues, or is the house really not safe no matter what modifications are made? If care is needed, are there funds to pay for in-home care? Or, is the individual refusing to leave home and also refusing to accept any assistance or modifications that would allow the home setting to be safe?
It is generally accepted that it is in a person’s best interest to be in the least restrictive setting consistent with their needs. Again, this discussion of “least restrictive” is based on the assumption that the person we’re talking about is not competent to make the decision themself.
3. Rights of Free Speech, Right to Counsel, etc. One of the big sticking points at the moment with this situation is whether the sisters should continue with the Instagram page that their supporters maintain (with their approval). The church has accused the sisters of breaking their vows of obedience by airing dirty laundry, so to speak. The church also wants the sisters to “immediately relieve of duty all lawyers and jurists acting on their behalf.”
From the viewpoint of the sisters, having supporters who could help them tell their story was the main way they could have any bargaining power with the church. Likewise, their lawyers are simply helping them understand the costs and benefits of various decisions.
Even if someone is found incompetent in guardianship court (which these sisters were not), and even if the court determined they needed to be protectively placement in a skilled nursing facility for their own good (which again, did not happen), that does not erase the entirety of someone’s rights. First Amendment rights to religious expression, free speech, and freedom of association largely remain intact even under a “full” guardianship. Beyond that, the right to counsel is specifically enumerated throughout our guardianship statutes.
4. “As long as it is medically and spiritually reasonable.” Red flags abound. This is the language in the contract that the sisters signed when the convent changed ownership in 2022. (A contract they didn’t seem to have much bargaining power in, which is a whole other issue.)
Elder law attorneys and estate planners come across “right to live here until you die” sort of language all the time in deeds and trusts. We often refer to this as a “life estates.” The right depends on someone being alive. When they are no longer alive, the right to occupy the property ends. Relatively clear line.
The trouble comes when all sorts of subjective or ill-defined parameters are added to the mix. What does “medically reasonable” mean? Obviously, it meant something different to the sisters than it did to the church. We see similar things like, “My life estate ends if I need nursing home care.” Who decides that? If we don’t know, then it’s not great language to put in a legal document. The problem of confusing or murky language in estate planning documents drafted by non-attorneys (and some attorneys; let’s be honest) has resulted in many a court dispute.
Lessons for the Future?
The other issue this story raises, one that does not fit as well into a bullet point list of elder law issues, is the role community plays in aging-in-place. The vast majority of our clients talk about “aging in place” in their homes.
These sisters seem to have created the community for that to be a reality. They have dozens of supporters who now stand ready to provide 24-hour care, assist with food, assist with bills, provide legal support, navigate social media, etc. These caregivers seem to view it as repayment for the decades of service the sisters provided to their community.
It’s an interesting tension of seemingly opposing ideas: keep your independence by serving others and being served in return. The sisters have been successful in fighting for their independence from the nursing home, and advocating for their rights to age in place, only through this interconnected community.
Hopefully whoever writes the movie about Sisters Rita, Regina, and Bernadette spends some time exploring how we can apply this more broadly.
