Filial responsibility laws in the United States are state statutes that assign legal obligations to adult children to support their aging parents or relatives financially.
Rooted in the idea that family members should care for one another, these laws mandate that family resources are used for elderly care. Currently, 30 states have such laws in place.
The laws are a remnant from the Elizabethan Poor Relief Law of 1601. At one point in time, 45 states had statutes obligating adult children to care for their parents.
The concept of filial responsibility crossed over the Atlantic to America where it was periodically implemented.
However, with the introduction of federal programs like Social Security and Medicaid, the need for filial responsibility laws seemed to diminish. These entitlement programs were designed to provide financial support and healthcare for older adults. In parallel, they reduced reliance on family members for care, leading some states to repeal filial responsibility laws. Still, not all of them did.
States with Filial Laws
The 30 states that currently have filial responsibility laws include:
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, though their guidelines vary.
Typically, the state’s filial laws come into play if Medicaid is denied or insufficient to provide long-term care. Care homes and government agencies can seek legal action to recover the cost of caring for parents from their children or relatives.
The extent of the obligation depends on factors like the adult child’s financial situation, the parent’s level of need, and whether the parent has exhausted other forms of assistance.
Exceptions are possible if the adult child demonstrates that they are unable to support their parent financially or if they can prove abuse or abandonment by the parent. Still, the burden of proof falls on the adult children.
Arkansas, for example, only requires payment for adult mental care. Meanwhile, Nevada’s law only becomes applicable if there is a written agreement to pay for care. Pennsylvania is the only state that has enforced the law in the past 25 years.
In 2012, Health Care & Retirement Corporation of America filed a suit against John Pittas, a Pennsylvania man whose mother was admitted to a nursing home. The courts ruled in favor of the nursing home, ordering Pittas pay for his mother’s outstanding medical bills totaling $92,943.
Filial Laws Around the World
Other countries across Asia and Europe have versions of filial responsibility laws with varying degrees of enforcement and extent of liability. China and India are on the more extreme end.
China requires children to financially and emotionally provide for their parents. Failure to do so may result in public shaming, court action, or being forced by employers to take time off work to visit their parents.
In India, parents can take their defaulting children to a tribunal that will impose fines or mandate regular financial support. Children who fail to comply with court orders may face jail time of up to three months.
As the population ages and healthcare costs rise, care for the elderly will get more expensive. Some experts suggest that states may look to these laws more frequently to mitigate the growing costs of elder care. Others argue for reform or repeal, citing the potential for undue hardship on families.
Within an aging population and projected Social Security insolvency, filial laws may become more actively pursued in the years ahead.
But lack of awareness about them may delay financial planning by adult children before it’s too late.
