Filial Responsibility

• Filial responsibility, or filial duty, is the ethical obligation of an adult child toward her parents to provide financial support to cover their basic needs if they are unable to do so themselves. As of publication, more than half the states in the U.S. have filial responsibility laws that make it compulsory for adult children to cover their parents' health-care costs as well as food, clothing and housing expenses. Though filial responsibility laws are infrequently enforced, adult children may be subject to civil or criminal penalties, depending on the laws of a given state. These laws may not be applicable if an adult child can prove long-term estrangement from a parent or that a parent did not fulfill parental obligations while the child was still a minor.
  
  

Health-Care Costs

• In states that have adopted filial responsibility laws, adult children are liable for the cost of their parents' health care and long-term care (for example, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities) if they are indigent or unable to pay. Some analysts believe that these states may revitalize filial responsibility statutes in an effort to offset the rising taxpayer burden of unpaid health care and elder care services.
  
  

Bills and Debts

• Adult children are not held legally accountable for loans and credit card balances or other bills (utilities, telephone) that their parents have not paid. Upon a person's death, certain parts of his estate are sold, and the money is used to settle unpaid bills and debts. Similar to bankruptcy, balances that remain following the sale of the entire estate are absolved by law. An adult child would bear such responsibility only if she acted as a co-signer on a loan or pledged collateral in connection with obtaining credit on her parents' behalf. Similarly, if an adult child inherits a home with a mortgage balance, he becomes responsible for payments on that mortgage as the owner.
  
  

Seeking Counsel

• Adult children who have been solicited for payments in connection with their parents' expenses or believe they are at risk for such liability are advised to consult an attorney specializing in family or elder law. The laws of individual states change frequently, and it is important for adult children to understand how they may be impacted by their parents' financial status.