Must Children Support Aging Parents?

San Antonio Express-News August 15, 2006 Must Children Support Aging Parents? copyright 2006, Paul Premack
Dear Mr. Premack: My husband's 83-year-old widowed mother chooses to live in Galveston with her oldest son. She is legally blind. He has a substance abuse problem and is seldom employed. She tells us they pool their money which, I am afraid, consists mostly of her social security check. It runs short every month. She is threatening to sue us for financial support if we do not send her money every month for the rest of her life. We have been worn down by all the requests for money and have no desire to help support the oldest brother. What is our legal responsibility toward his mother? – JB There are a variety of ways that an adult child might become liable for supporting a parent. They include 1) voluntary assumption of liability, 2) contractual liability, 3) liability for misapplication of the parent’s funds, 4) the need to return gifts to the parent, and 5) statutory filial responsibility laws. The broadest of those would be a filial responsibility law: a statute that requires an adult child to provide support to an indigent parent. Oregon has such a statute on its books, but Texas does not and never has. Here, although parents owe a support obligation to their children while the children are underage, the children never owe a support obligation to their parents. Adult children do not have any legal duty to support their parents in Texas. Parents are legally responsible for their own needs. The other theories of filial liability require some type of action on the adult child’s part. Voluntary assumption of liability means that you support your parent because you feel it is the right thing to do (not because of a law requiring the support). According to your letter, you have no desire to volunteer support because of the eldest son’s interference. Contractual liability is also, typically, a voluntary action for an adult child. For instance, you could agree with your mother’s landlord to pay her rent. That contract is binding on you because you volunteered to pay. Sometimes, however, adult children do not realize that they are accepting contractual liability. For instance, if you sign papers to admit your parent to the hospital it may slip in a provision where you agree to pay the bill. Or you may be Agent under your parent’s Durable Power of Attorney yet sign an agreement without disclosing that you are acting as Agent. If you sign your name to the contract, you are bound to it. An Agent should always sign the principal’s name then print in a phrase like “by Agent under Power of Attorney”. An adult child may also bear liability for items the parent “gave” to the child, or which the child “took” from the parent. If the terms of the gift are not clear, or if someone might claim that the parent never intended to give the item to the child, there may be a liability for return of the item or reimbursement to the parent. Having established that you do not have a duty to support your mother, it is also important to note that your mother has no duty to support her oldest son. If he is pressuring her to support him, it may be construed as exploitation. You may be wise to call Adult Protective Services (800-252-5400) for an investigation, to be certain that your mother is not being illegally taken advantage of by your brother.
Prior Week: Has Father Changed His Will? Next Week: Medicaid Lookback - and- Durable Power of Attorney
Disclaimer: This column answers a specific legal question asked by an individual in Texas. The answer may or may not match your individual situation. Be careful not to treat this column as specific legal advice, as it may not meet your individual needs. It may give you a solid basis for discussion with your own attorney. You should consult with your personal attorney before you take any action on this or any legal issue. Also, please be aware that laws change, so this column is valid only as of the date it was published. This communication does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the reader.