Bill would bar neglectful parents from claiming support from children

LRT, citing ELTA, reports that the Lithuanian Parliament will consider amendments to the Civil Code that would expand the circumstances in which parents could be denied maintenance from their adult children in old age.

The amendments, introduced by Social Democratic lawmaker Darius Razmislevičius, aim to protect adult children from having to support parents who seriously breached their duties to them while they were minors.

Under the proposal, parents would lose the right to claim support from their children if they avoided their duties to minor children and systematically failed to provide financial support, used physical, psychological or sexual violence against a child or another family member directly connected to the child’s welfare, or violated the child’s interests, resulting in a domestic violence protection order or another official protective measure.

The proposal would also cover parents who, through their own fault, abandoned a child and failed to care for them, abused alcohol or drugs, or had their parental authority temporarily or permanently restricted.

An exception would apply where parents had made efforts to change their behaviour after temporary guardianship had been imposed and the children had been returned to the family.

“People who did not care for their children should not, unfortunately, have the opportunity in old age to demand from them what they themselves did not do throughout their lives,” Razmislevičius said while presenting the amendments to Parliament last Tuesday.

Vitalijus Šeršniovas, deputy leader of the Mixed Group of Members of Parliament, supported the initiative but urged a less categorical approach, noting that Lithuania is a Catholic country. He said some cases of severe mistreatment, such as parents sending young children outside in winter at night, were not officially recorded.

Liberal lawmaker Vitalijus Gailius criticised the proposal, saying courts already dealt with such issues under existing rules. He voted against the initiative.

The amendments received parliamentary approval at the presentation stage, with 61 votes in favour, one against and 27 abstentions. Parliament plans to consider the issue again on December 15, after it has been reviewed by the committees on Legal Affairs and Law Enforcement and on Human Rights.

Under the current Civil Code, adult children must support and care for parents who are unable to work and need assistance. Support is provided by agreement between the children and parents or awarded by a court following a claim from the parents. A court may release adult children from this duty if it finds that the parents avoided their responsibilities towards their minor children. The code also states that parents are not entitled to support if their children were permanently separated from them through the parents’ own fault.