On May 7, 2012 the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued an opinion in the case of Healthcare Retirement Corporation of America v. Pittas. The court found a son liable for his mother’s $93,000 nursing home bill under Pennsylvania’s Filial Responsibility Law. This high-profile case raises concerns.
Currently 30 states have laws making adult children responsible
A parable:
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and young grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, and he often spilled his food. He dropped a good piece of china, breaking it. Exasperated, the son and daughter-in-law made the old man wooden bowls and spoons and told him to eat in the
"Negative inheritance," a term coined by Laurence Kotlikoff, a professor at Boston University, describes the situation when the costs to children of caring for aging relatives outstrip any gifts or bequests they might receive in return.
A large portion of baby boomers find themselves becoming the caregivers for their parents. Many of these caregivers want
Neil Hendershot has an excellent post today on Pennsylvania’s Filial Support Statute. He quotes Professor Katherine Pearson’s sidebar in the Summer 2008 issue of Adventures in Law and Aging, "“SO, WHAT IS THIS ‘FILIAL SUPPORT’ THING?” and provides many citations to useful resources.
This is a signifcant moral as well as legal issue. What