Rights and remedies of elderly parents

This week, Your Advocate is Barrister Omar H. Khan, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He is the head of the chambers of the renowned law firm ‘Legal Counsel’, which has expertise mainly in commercial law, family law, labor law, land law, constitutional law, criminal law, and IPR.

Query

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An elderly couple lives next door to us. Although both of their children are affluent, they do not visit their old parents or provide any sort of financial support. The couple is now very old and feeble, and they even struggle to manage daily household activities, such as buying medicines and arranging regular meals.

Despite their suffering, they do not complain about their children, perhaps because they think it will damage their relationship with their children or bring embarrassment to the family. However, seeing them neglected and abandoned like this is really painful. Is there any remedy available in our law that the elderly couple can avail?

Atikul Islam

Bashabo, Dhaka.

Response

Dear reader, thank you for your query.

Unfortunately, situations like the one you have described are not uncommon. As parents grow older, many become dependent on their children for mental and financial support, medical care, and even assistance with their daily lives. While caring for ageing parents is often regarded as a moral and family responsibility, many do not know that it is also a legal obligation in Bangladesh. So, to answer your question briefly, yes, there are legal remedies available for your neighbours.

Recognising the need to protect elderly parents from neglect, the Parents’ Maintenance Act, 2013 (the ‘Act’) was enacted by Parliament. The law requires every son or daughter to ensure the maintenance of his or her parents. Where there is more than one child, the responsibility is shared between them. In the case of your neighbours, their children also have this responsibility.

Importantly, the Act makes it clear that maintenance is not limited to providing money for the parents. Rather, it includes ensuring food, clothing, medical treatment, accommodation, and companionship. The law, therefore, recognises that elderly parents need more than just financial assistance. They also need care, attention, and dignity in their old years. Unfortunately, in the case of your neighbours, it seems like this duty of their children is being neglected.

Furthermore, the law requires children to regularly collect information about their parents’ health, arrange necessary treatment and care, and maintain regular contact with them if they live separately. Where parents choose to live apart from their children, each child is required to provide a reasonable amount of financial support. The Act also makes it clear that no child can force a parent to live in an old-age home or elsewhere against the parent’s wishes.

In fact, the protection offered by the law is not limited to parents alone; in certain circumstances, it also extends to grandparents. Where the father is absent, children are required to maintain their paternal grandparents, and where the mother is absent, they are required to maintain their maternal grandparents.

Coming to enforcement, any violation of the provisions of this Act is punishable with a fine of up to one lac taka. If the fine is not paid, the offender may also face imprisonment for up to three months. The Act further provides that a spouse, son, daughter, or another close relative who obstructs or refuses to cooperate in providing maintenance to parents or grandparents may also be held liable. The court may also refer the matter for amicable settlement to the local authority as opposed to imposing a punishment.

However, there is one important practical aspect of the law that is often overlooked. A case under the Act can only be taken up by the court with a written complaint made by the father or mother concerned. As a result, neighbours or well-wishers cannot ordinarily bring a case on behalf of elderly parents, even if they witness neglect. This is one of the reasons why many such incidents remain unreported, as parents are often reluctant to initiate legal proceedings against their own children. As such, if your elderly neighbour couple does not agree to this, you cannot file a case yourself.

I hope this answers your query.