Help for the elderly

Help for the elderly

"I'm only working part-time at the moment and I spend a lot of my free time helping my mother, who is elderly and needs help on a daily basis. I'm wondering if I'm entitled to be paid by my mother for the help I give her every day?

Marc, Onex

The duty of assistance between parents and children is enshrined in article 272 of the Civil Code, which states that parents and children owe each other the mutual assistance, consideration and respect required by the interests of the family. This duty depends on the existence of a parent-child relationship and not on parental authority or the domestic community, for example. Moreover, it is not extinguished when the child reaches the age of majority. Contrary to common belief, this is not a one-way duty owed by the parents to the child, but a reciprocal duty. It is essentially made up of three components: help, consideration and respect. The first component may involve both material benefits and a duty of spiritual and moral support. With regard to reciprocal consideration, this involves being attentive to the interests of others worthy of protection when our own are not seriously jeopardised, when exercising rights and fulfilling obligations. The third aspect is simply the consideration due to the personality of others.

Apart from the existence of an employment contract between you and your mother, these various services are deemed to be free of charge. In fact, despite the fact that this is primarily a moral obligation that cannot be invoked in court or enforced, it is a duty and not a service that may be remunerated.

Moreover, a serious breach of this duty of assistance may constitute valid grounds for disinheritance, so you could be reduced to your reserve when your mother's estate is settled.

This is to be distinguished from the obligation set out in article 328 of the Civil Code, under which everyone, provided they are wealthy, is obliged to provide maintenance for their relatives in the direct ascending or descending line if, in the absence of such assistance, they become destitute. Essentially focused on the issue of maintenance debts, this law can be invoked in court and enforced.

Helping your mother is a moral duty enshrined in law, but does not entitle you to remuneration.