Jack was born in 1943, the only child of a doting mother and a father home from the rigors of war in the Pacific. He grew up during the fabulous 50’s and the experimental 60’s; got married and divorced in the free love 70’s. He became a typical consumer in the buy everything 80’s and the Internet 90’s, then bought Florida real estate in the 2000’s, eventually losing everything in 2008. All along the way, he never really saved a dime.
Everything he made was either consumed, eaten, smoked, or sold for cash to take trips to Vegas, Tibet, or wherever The Travel Channel recommended that month. He did contribute a little to his 401k but took loans against it and eventually cashed it out to buy a new Audi for his trophy wife that was 22 years younger. She left him 6 months later.
He never took very good care of himself and eventually passed away in early 2010, broke, penniless and indebted to the nursing home to the tune of $450,000. He never got around to buying long term care insurance.
Janet on the other hand was born in 1962 and learned early on that she wouldn’t get anything unless she worked hard for it. And work she did. She was valedictorian of her high school class of 1,600 and scored a major scholarship for college. It essentially paid for everything, but Janet still worked a part-time job and saved her pennies. She graduated with a double major in math and psychology … and had $26,000 in her portfolio and savings account.
She went on to become a physical therapist and landed a job at a prestigious hospital in her growing city. Over the course of three years, she was promoted to run the department and did it better than anyone, being handsomely rewarded along the way. She married a business executive she met at a fund-raiser for the children’s hospital and eventually had three children of her own. She and her husband did very well for themselves financially, adopting a saving and investing philosophy similar to other great investors – investing only in what they understood, thinking of their investments as “buying a business” rather than just buying stocks, and sticking with their decisions for the long term. After 20 years of marriage, Janet and her husband had amassed a portfolio valued at $1.15 million even after the stock market took a dive in 2008. They were well on their way to hitting their goal of retiring at 62.
That’s when Janet was introduced to Filial Responsibility. You see, Jack was Janet’s father and since Janet and Jack both lived in Pennsylvania, Janet was now responsible for Jacks debts. Impossible you say? Not in the age of tight budgets where lawmakers search for ways to extract as much money as possible from the taxpayers so the state’s general fund isn’t depleted. It’s happening and it’s called filial responsibility.
Filial responsibility is the moral obligation of children to care for their parents and support them in their old age. But recently, filial responsibility has become more than just a moral obligation … it has become a legal obligation as well.
The laws have been on the books for hundreds of years, Pennsylvania’s since 1771, but they haven’t been enforced. Since the 1960′s federal law (U.S. Code Title 42 §1396a(a)(17)(D)) has forbidden the states from holding anyone (except a spouse) responsible for the financial needs of any individual applying for Medicare, Medicaid, or any poverty program. Since federal law supersedes state laws, the federal government places that responsibility on the taxpayers. But that seems to be changing.
States are facing massive budget shortfalls and the typical response is to search for the quick solution, namely extract the monies from taxpayers and in the case of elderly parents racking up huge bills in state run nursing facilities, it means going after the children who have the means to pay.
Currently 30 states have filial responsibility laws on the books and nursing homes are gearing their lawyers up to file suits against the children of non-paying residents. Reba Kennedy at Everyday Simplicity compiled the complete list (with the actual state code references). A quick alphabetical listing: 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.
What does this mean for you? Perhaps nothing, perhaps a great deal. You CAN fight filial responsibility should a nursing home or other care facility file suit against you for payment, but it can be a long and arduous process filled with lawyers and depositions, not to mention the emotional turmoil. The best bet is to investigate long term care insurance for your parents … and do your own “due diligence” about the filial responsibility you may personally have.
The “forecast” isn’t good for Gen X and Gen Y. Again, according to Everyday Simplicity
Recent changes in Medicaid legislation may result in litigation seeking to enforce these filial responsibility statutes, as nursing homes try and find help to cover care costs and expenses that are not covered by the federal government. The forecast involves lawsuits pitting nursing homes against the kids.
Check out The Tax Adviser, April 2008, “What is Long Term Care and Who Is Responsible for Its Cost?” by Dianne Odem, CPA/PFS and editor, Michael David Schulman, CPA/PFS
What are your thoughts? Should children be responsible for parents when parents haven’t been responsible for themselves? Should hardworking children have to foot the bill for their parents expenses?
Though the characters Jack and Janet are fictional, this situation is a real possibility and should serve as a reminder to make certain you don’t find yourself in a similar circumstance.
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so it looks like the baby boomers are going to saddle us with tons of debt then stab us in the back by making us pay their bills in their old age. baby boomers should be called the ‘selfish generation’. all i want is to be left alone and be allowed to make my own way. the idea that a parent can squander away their money for 70 years and then the child is forced to pay up is just sick.
Yikes, this is scary.
You’re telling me …
There’s a cultural disconnect here. The US espouses individuality and freedom. So, why then is a child responsible for a parent’s actions? We throw our family away like cheaply made goods from China. This is what we’ve been taught in North American society. The government can’t institute laws like this and expect it to work. It’s quintessentially un-American.
I agree, but I’m not surprised that money starved state legislators are doing everything possible to tap their constituents for as much cash as possible. I believe that children should, within reason, take care of the parents who took care of them. Within reason. A parent that squanders away everything and then expects his kids and kid’s spouses to foot the bill is the epitome of selfishness, but when the state starts lawsuits, whatcha gonna do? All you can realistically do is find a good attorney and fight.
This will be fought on all fronts, myself included if I ever face it. I’ve worked damn hard for what I have, and no budget busting politician is going to get my money without a long fight.
What if the child lives in a state with no filial responsibility laws, but the parent does? Can the state of Virginia go after a resident of Texas?
Nothing I found in my research would indicate that this is the case. Since these are state laws, I would suspect not, but I’d recommend you speak with a lawyer to be on the safe side. I’m in a similar situation as the one you mentioned, but in reverse — I live in a state with filial responsibility but my parents do not.
As the only surviving child of a 90 y.o. man, I read with horror, the story of Janet & Jack!! My father LIVES in PA & I’m a resident of VA!! Although he has been very responsible to date, it is within reason that this same situation could happend to him/me/us!!! My father has been VERY responsible but here are some questions that could lead to a similar senario….
Jack’s medical history is not mentioned, however, I’m perplexed how an individual can amass a nursing home debt of $450,000? The average cost of a quality nursing home is $5k per month…so how long was he in an a care facility & why? Acute (higher level) care facilities are significantly more expensive (if you are on a ventilator, etc).
You may wonder WHY I’m asking this question. Because Jack’s life may have been prolonged on some form of life support due to the fact that he was not responsible enough to execute a living will regarding his healthcare desires & decisions. Also, if Jack did make a living will stating he wanted to prolong his life and/or assigned someone else besides his daughter to make decisions which incurred this debt, then she should not be responsible!
As a RN who has worked in Palliative/Hospice Care, I have witnessed many invidiuals who were needlessly kept alive because they did NOT make their healthcare wishes known to healthcare providers or their children. I am NOT the nurse of death, but let me tell you, nursing homes make a tremendous amount of money caring for the terminally ill. I have witnessed healthcare facilities & the MD on staff advocate and/or steer families to maintaining their loved ones in an almost vegatative state. I, for one, feel that if I can’t communicate, breathe independently or eat, well forget it, I want to die. I realize that not everyone feels this way & each are entitled to live & die the way they desire. All I’m saying it $450,000 is representative of longterm, high level care which may or may not have been Jack’s choice. And now, his daughter is left to deal with this.
So….it is just not a matter of fiscal responsibility but a matter of moral & legal responsibility. Everyone, regardless of AGE, needs to know their own state laws & execute a living will.
I appreciate this information , as I was not aware of this law….I’m wondering what the sucess rate is on collecting funds from family members….(besides the long, arduous process….)
Aahhh just saw that Jack & Janet were fictional….fine print!! LOL
So, here’s a scenario, Jack, who has lived by the creed “Eat, drink & be merry for tomorrow I may die…”. Well, Jack was drinking, threw up, aspirated his vomit & had an anoxic event (his brain was without oxygen) living him brain dead. So, Jack was on a vent & since he had little if any contact with his estranged daughter, she didn’t know about Jack until after he died, so the hospital & nursing home kept him alive on a vent until he got peumonia & died. $450,000 later, the nursing home finds out the daughter has some bucks….and sooo they sue her to pay! Much like the ABC article (linked), it appears the care facilities are going after those families where there has been something amiss in the parent’s (s) funds. “Complicated” is what the article stated, which means the kids were raiding the bank account or sold the parent’s home & pocketed the money. Perhaps they should be held accountable if the parents funds were NOT used for their care. I can see how this law could be used for those children who have not engaged in such activities, but I suspect the smell of money is a motivating factor in this situations….