Filial-Responsibility Laws Could Cost You

Filial-responsibility laws exist in twenty-eight states and intend to hold family members financially responsible for other family members. For example, under these laws, children can be held responsible for their parents’ nursing home costs. For decades now, these laws have not been widely used because of programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. However, as retirees are increasingly unable to pay their expenses, some providers are turning to filial-responsibility laws for debt payments. So, how can you avoid paying off your parents’ debt? A long-term care and estate plan will ensure sufficient funding is set aside to cover these end-of-life expenditures. Failing to plan for retirement cannot only impact your life but also the lives of your children.

See Jamie Hopkins, Family-Responsibility Laws Could Cost Your Clients, Barron’s, April 22, 2017.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.