Adult children on the hook for deadbeat Mom.

[Cattusbabe]

Life just ain't fair.

Monica Yant Kinney: If mom can't pay, adult child must | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/12/2009

 

[Walt34]

Yuck!

Hope that doesn't become too popular. I suppose every extended family has a few deadbeats in it.

 

[Texas Proud]

I guess it should be time to get that law overturned... but that cost money also..

 

[Leonidas]

I was thinking that this sounds like a good reason not to live in Pennsylvania, or let your deadbeat parents move there. But it's not just Pennsylvania:

States with filial responsibility laws are: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Article here: The Legal Responsibility of Adult Children to Care for Indigent Parents - Brief Analysis #521 and list of states and the applicable citation of statute here: Everyday Simplicity: Filial Responsibility Laws - List of States Having Them

 

[ziggy29]

I was thinking that this sounds like a good reason not to live in Pennsylvania, or let your deadbeat parents move there. But it's not just Pennsylvania:

Whew. Now I know why I put up with the chiggers and the heat...

 

[Martha]

And if your parents don't pay and they can, the child is forced to sue the parent (which the guy in the story needs to do). Have a few of those situations and see if the laws get repealed. Or changed, as one article suggests, to require you to disclaim inheritances if you are not going to pay your parent's bills.

States often restrict the liability of one spouse for the debts of another. Unless it is a community property state (which also means a community debt state) there is a good chance that you are only liable for the necessities of your spouse, not for their foolish spending.Apparently, the same applies in most states that have parent responsibility laws. What would be strange is a situation where a parent is a spendthrift, runs up credit card bills for junk, and the credit card sues the parents' nice middle class children for the bills.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Nursing homes here in PA are supposed to determine if a person will need to apply for Medicaid when their fully paid Medicare days run out(usually around day 20). The nursing home calls the county Area Agency on Aging to have a level of care assessment done(referred to as an Options asessment). The AAA assessor forwards this determination to the county welfare department to do the financial determination of eligibility. If a person declines to do this, they will be presented with a bill upon discharge. I have never heard of a family member(other than spouse) being held responsible for a nursing home bill. I have real sympathy for this woman's children as I think this is harassment. The whole ridiculous nursing home system needs to be revamped in my opinion but don't get me started on this.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Now I know why I had kids.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Now I know why I had kids.

I, too, will have to let my son know of his filial responsibilities. Or maybe not. I don't want him to go into hiding.

 

[freebird5825]

Whew. Now I know why I put up with the chiggers and the heat...

DoubleWhew. Now I know why I put up with the snow...I think...

My father was never good with money or relationships. He lives in NY also. Enough said.

 

[teejayevans]

I was thinking that this sounds like a good reason not to live in Pennsylvania, or let your deadbeat parents move there. But it's not just Pennsylvania:

Article here: The Legal Responsibility of Adult Children to Care for Indigent Parents - Brief Analysis #521 and list of states and the applicable citation of statute here: Everyday Simplicity: Filial Responsibility Laws - List of States Having Them

I don't think this would work if the children didn't live in PA, states can't
enforce their laws across state lines. Any lawyers want to comment?
TJ

 

[Leonidas]

I don't think this would work if the children didn't live in PA, states can't
enforce their laws across state lines. Any lawyers want to comment?
TJ

The law professor interviewed in the original article seemed to think so...

"These attorneys will bring suit against adult children even if the children live out of state and even if it's been years since they had contact with their parent."

 

[bubba]

I hope (in fact I pray) when/if that day comes for me that I still have enough presence of mind to die in my own house and not run to the skilled care center and run up a big bill for my son to be stuck with. The behavior of the mother in this story makes me sick. Some mother.

 

[kumquat]

Article here: The Legal Responsibility of Adult Children to Care for Indigent Parents - Brief Analysis #521 and list of states and the applicable citation of statute here: Everyday Simplicity: Filial Responsibility Laws - List of States Having Them

You scared me when I saw the law was derived from old English law. I thought that was 'British Common Law'. Living in the last North American British colony, I thought it might apply to me. Fortunately, I :
Read : "The duty to care for parents is a purely statutorily created duty that does not exist in common law."
Have: no living parents or inlaws.

Never before saw an upside to one orphan marrying another.

 

[thefinancebuff]

Taking care of one's parent is so old fashioned already? Come on, it's $8,000. How much did the mom spend on raising the child?

 

[Leonidas]

Taking care of one's parent is so old fashioned already? Come on, it's $8,000. How much did the mom spend on raising the child?

The linked article seems to indicate she was not much of a parent:

Grant says that his relationship with his mother "has always been strained" and that he was raised primarily by his grandparents.

"It was a big house in Drexel Hill," he recalls. "She lived on the second floor. We lived on the first. Sometimes, she'd show for dinner, sometimes not. She never did homework with us."

Grant says his mother has long overspent and mismanaged her money.

 

[Leonidas]

You scared me when I saw the law was derived from old English law. I thought that was 'British Common Law'. Living in the last North American British colony, I thought it might apply to me. Fortunately, I :
Read : "The duty to care for parents is a purely statutorily created duty that does not exist in common law."

Fortunately for you, being an orphan married to an orphan, but several of the provinces up there in the Great White North seem to have adopted different versions of the Elizabethan Poor Law:

Family Responsibility Laws

THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows: 1999, c.32, s.1. 1 s. 114 Every person who has attained the age of majority has an obligation to provide support, in accordance with need, for his or her parent who has cared for and provided support for that person, to the extent that the person is capable of doing so.

So sayeth your Queen apparently.

 

[Martha]

Nursing homes here in PA are supposed to determine if a person will need to apply for Medicaid when their fully paid Medicare days run out(usually around day 20). The nursing home calls the county Area Agency on Aging to have a level of care assessment done(referred to as an Options asessment). The AAA assessor forwards this determination to the county welfare department to do the financial determination of eligibility. If a person declines to do this, they will be presented with a bill upon discharge. I have never heard of a family member(other than spouse) being held responsible for a nursing home bill. I have real sympathy for this woman's children as I think this is harassment. The whole ridiculous nursing home system needs to be revamped in my opinion but don't get me started on this.

Children's assets (unless gifts from parents) and means are not considered when determining Medicaid eligibility.

 

[Helena]

~


" Could you be legally liable for paying for the care of an elder parent? Under something called Filial Support Laws, you most certainly could in thirty states.

*

" When the United States was settled, much of the legal standard the country adopted was based on English law. It was, after all, what people knew. The Filial Support Laws were part of that body of laws and thus adapted. Although 30 states have these laws, each state has a slightly different version. In some states, only the children of the person are responsible for providing care while other states expand the requirement to include grandchildren! In California, it is a misdemeanor to not comply with the law! In other states, family members can sue other family members to make them pitch in on the cost of care.


At this point, you are probably very interested in seeing a list of the states that have such laws. In alphabetical order, they are Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. "




Elder Care and Filial Support Laws



~

 

[Kabekew]

You can always get someone else to legally adopt you (even as an adult: Adopting an Adult - How to Adopt an Adult Person - ) and I think that severs the legal parent relationship.

 

[KennyM]

It used to be that law was a "Noble" profession, but from reading that story, but there are slim balls in every profession!

 

[Independent]

I live in Iowa, so I followed a link to the code.

It appears that here, it's up to the County Board of Supervisors to sue the children. I live in a low-population county. I'll bet that if the CBS got very aggressive with this, they wouldn't be re-elected.

Iowa Code 1999: Section 252.2

 

[tuixiu]

I agree with prev poster... he should sue the Mom.

Hey it looks like I'm clear for the states list, both for our residence and residence of mother-in-law.