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STATES MAY TAKE NEW LOOK AT REQUIRING ADULT CHILDREN TO PAY FOR AGING PARENTS
ncpa.org ^ | 6.4.9

Posted on 06/04/2009 8:33:58 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch

Did you know you could be responsible for your parents' unpaid bills? Thirty states currently have laws making adult children responsible for their parents if their parents can't afford to take care of themselves. While these laws are rarely enforced, there has been speculation that states may begin dusting them off as a way to save on Medicaid expenses, says SeniorJournal.com.

These laws, called filial responsibility laws, obligate adult children to provide necessities like food, clothing, housing, and medical attention for their indigent parents.

According to the National Center for Policy Analysis:

Twenty-one states allow a civil court action to obtain financial support or cost recovery. Twelve states impose criminal penalties on children who do not support their parents. Three states allow both civil and criminal actions. Generally, most states do not require children to provide care if they do not have the ability to pay. States vary on what factors they consider when determining whether an adult child has the ability to pay. Children may also not be required to support their parents if the parents abandoned them or did not support them.

The passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 made it more difficult to qualify for Medicaid, which means there may be more elderly individuals in nursing homes with no ability to pay for care. In response, nursing homes may use the filial responsibility laws as a way to get care paid for, says SeniorJournal.com.

Source: ElderLawAnswers.com, "States May Take New Look at Requiring Adult Children to Pay for Aging Parents; Boomers could get caught by laws already on books in thirty states," SeniorJournal.com, June 3, 2009.

For text:

http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Boomers/2009/20090603-StatesMayTake.htm

For more on State and Local Issues:

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=40


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: immigration; kidsgettopay; medicaid; seniors
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To: Kimberly GG

“States ought to take a look at the number of ILLEGAL ALIENS collecting benefits because of ANCHOR BABIES.”

And more to the point, how about the millions of older ‘immigrants’ that come here for SSI...I’m sure no state government would go after their kids!


21 posted on 06/04/2009 8:45:49 AM PDT by AuntB (The right to vote in America: Blacks 1870; Women 1920; Native Americans 1925; Foreigners 2008)
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To: InvisibleChurch; All

I agree with this, but the corollary must be true: if I am responsible for my parents’ expenses, then they should also be able to leave me 100% of their life’s savings and work, tax-free. Abolish the death (estate) tax.


22 posted on 06/04/2009 8:45:50 AM PDT by AbeKrieger (If global warming didn't exist, Al Gore would have had to invent it.)
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To: DoughtyOne

I agree that you should not be held legally liable for the actions of your parents. Morally yes, legaly no.

Next we will be held responsible for crimes committed by our parent. Sins of the father and all that.


23 posted on 06/04/2009 8:46:17 AM PDT by Drill Thrawl (Please pass the duct tape.)
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To: Juan Medén

I’ll bet the concept never crossed their minds until they realized that they somehow had to come up with more money to cover the welfare constituencies and illegals.


24 posted on 06/04/2009 8:46:54 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican ("During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." --Orwell)
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To: dfwgator
"Maybe parents won't be so lousy once they realize that their children may be the only ones who will take care of them when they're older, instead of relying on the Nanny State."

That's great for the future, but were talking about the here and the now. What about the hundreds of thousands millions of absent fathers from the 1960's until now? They're soon going to be headed into the age of retirement, and beyond. Is the government going to hold the children that these men abandoned responsible for their absent father's medical care?

How do you enforce this? The courts are already overloaded, but we're going to litigate millions of cases to determine who should be responsible for their old man's care? This sound like a huge bureaucratic boondoggle to me.

25 posted on 06/04/2009 8:47:18 AM PDT by Big_Monkey
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To: InvisibleChurch

yet another generational wealth transfer


26 posted on 06/04/2009 8:47:22 AM PDT by Homer1
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To: mom4melody

Excellent, excellent point.

I have a sibling who will not see one DIME of assistance from me in the future. Siblings are next, most likely.


27 posted on 06/04/2009 8:47:34 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: riri
Isn't the basic concept of ObaMao's utopian model is that the government is your Daddy and it takes a village to wipe your butt? If we are forced to subsidize some crackhead squeezing out babies as part of our tax burden, shouldn't our parents (who actually raised productive kids to contribute to the tax pool) get a break when their needs exceeds their ability to pay?

You can't make crackheads (who have never contributed anything net to the tax base) more equal than the elderly, who have.

28 posted on 06/04/2009 8:47:49 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or, are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: riri
My mother is a psychopath. She is currently living in my home, and I have to lock my bedroom door every time I leave the house.

I would kill myself if the government forced me to take care of her. Yes, I am trying to get her to move out.

29 posted on 06/04/2009 8:47:55 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: mom4melody

Twenty-one states allow a civil court action to obtain financial support or cost recovery. Twelve states impose criminal penalties on children who do not support their parents. Three states allow both civil and criminal actions. Generally, most states do not require children to provide care if they do not have the ability to pay. States vary on what factors they consider when determining whether an adult child has the ability to pay. Children may also not be required to support their parents if the parents abandoned them or did not support them.


Note the above variations in the law. The good news is that this is still a state issue and not a federal issue?


30 posted on 06/04/2009 8:47:57 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple ( Seeking the truth here folks.)
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To: InvisibleChurch

Since this is a Biblical precept I expect that the government will be loathe to pursue such notions with the force of law...
[/sarc]

That said - neither my mother nor father nor in laws will ever be on welfare or a ward of the state (the stepmother is questionable, ‘wink) - I simply won’t let it happen. THe only reason for anyone else to be taking care of your family is if they need constant medical care of such a nature that familial care is impossible, and since my wife is a nurse...


31 posted on 06/04/2009 8:48:53 AM PDT by BlueNgold (... Feed the tree!)
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To: Big_Monkey
Is the government going to hold the children that these men abandoned responsible for their absent father's medical care?

Why should I pay for it?

32 posted on 06/04/2009 8:48:53 AM PDT by dfwgator (USM is Gator Bait! (Congrats to U-Dub!))
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

Does a child have to pay for the care of his mother’s rapist? Will we have DNA testing of people in their 70s and 80s now? next up - he’s not my father on Maury, Seniro division... Oh, boy, I bet the lawyers are smacking their chops on this issue - because they will be the ones who get paid, fer sherr....


33 posted on 06/04/2009 8:49:17 AM PDT by AbeKrieger (If global warming didn't exist, Al Gore would have had to invent it.)
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To: Above My Pay Grade

“What about the man who never or barely knew his father and never received a dime of support from him (a very common situation these days)?”

Don’t be rippin’ on the Prez, now! He’s over in the Middle East right this very minute defending Democracy and praising America for all of it’s virtues...

Oh. Wait.

Nevermind! Rip away! :)


34 posted on 06/04/2009 8:49:46 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: InvisibleChurch
Sounds good on the surface, but this law, like all others, will be selectively enforced by the likes of Sonia Sotomayor.

Black people will be exempted.

Certain other people won't.

35 posted on 06/04/2009 8:51:04 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
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To: Jedidah
Can’t really argue with the concept — if those elders hadn’t already paid into SS for years on end.

Add to that, that socialists want to confiscate inheritance, and that's a sweet deal for the state, enslave the kids and take their inheritance, too.

Marx would be proud.

36 posted on 06/04/2009 8:51:22 AM PDT by Navy Patriot (Prowd gaduate of a Calefornica publik skewl.)
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To: InvisibleChurch

Government increases taxes and burden to pay for its programs then fails and then says you have to fix it yourself however, they are keeping the taxes so you have to do more with less.


37 posted on 06/04/2009 8:52:11 AM PDT by edcoil (Reality doesn't have to say much.)
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To: dfwgator
Maybe parents won't be so lousy once they realize that their children may be the only ones who will take care of them when they're older

But then maybe not, when the parents realize the children are mandated by the state to take care of them as opposed to taking care of them voluntarily.

38 posted on 06/04/2009 8:52:31 AM PDT by libh8er
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To: InvisibleChurch

Let me get this straight: My natural parents abandoned me and I spend the first two and a half years of my life in foster homes until I was adopted. My adoptive parents physically and emotionally abused me. I left home at age 17, and put myself through college and graduate school without a dime from my parents, and now I’m supposed to spend my savings to make them comfy? Don’t think so.


39 posted on 06/04/2009 8:52:34 AM PDT by Labyrinthos
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To: Drill Thrawl

This is a sticky one. I don’t think adult children should have to take care of their parents. I also don’t think the state should have to. People need to take care of themselves, and if they didn’t use proper judgment during their adult lives, then why should others have to carry their load when the time comes?


40 posted on 06/04/2009 8:53:11 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (Obama is mentally a child of ten. Just remember that when he makes statements and issues policy.)
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