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| Jason Frank |
Maryland has repealed its little-used filial responsibility law. ElderLawAnswers member attorney Jason Frank, public policy co-chair of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys' Maryland/D.C. chapter, spearheaded the effort to get rid of the law.
Maryland's filial responsibility law provided that adult children are obligated to financially support a destitute parent with food, care, shelter, and clothing. The law was not used much in nursing home cases because Maryland law prohibits a nursing home from holding adult children responsible for a parent's nursing home bill unless the child consents in writing to be financially responsible. However, the law could have been used when a parent under age 65 was under the care of a psychiatric hospital.
The repeal was a bipartisan effort. The arguments for repealing the law were that filial responsibility laws were a holdover from Elizabethan times, and that a parent’s failure to exercise sound financial discretion should not burden the parent’s adult children. To read the full repeal, go here: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2017rs/chapters_noln/ch_540_sb0676t.pdf.
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