The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007, or the Senior Citizen Protection Act, guarantees necessities of life like food, clothing, residence, and
medical care for older people. The Act requires children to care for their parents, who cannot look after themselves. Under this law, children include step-children, adoptive children, and children-in-law. Furthermore, if an elderly couple has no children, their relatives must look after them.
Senior citizens can appeal for maintenance under Section 4 of the Senior Citizen Protection Act if they cannot financially support themselves because of limited or a lack of income. A child or the legal heir who inherits their parents’ property must provide maintenance according to the ratio of their inherited assets. The same applies if the
senior citizens have multiple children or heirs.
Obligations of the State
The Act stipulates that state governments must build at least one old age home in each district to provide appropriate care for
senior citizens. Any violation of this Act is a crime.
Failure to Provide Maintenance
A failure to provide maintenance to parents will attract legal action. For instance, the maintenance tribunals may order children to pay a minimum of Rs 10,000 monthly to their parents. The police must ensure the parents are getting maintenance from their children. If the children or the relatives refuse to pay or disobey a tribunal’s orders, it may issue them a warrant to make the payment at the earliest, and if they still refuse, they could be imprisoned for up to one month or till the amount is paid.
Gifts to Children Can Be Revoked
Children or relatives who receive immovable or movable property as gifts from parents or relatives can be considered invalid if they don’t provide sufficient care to their older family members. For example, if they refuse care or don’t take proper care, or it is not up to the standards of a normal “livable life” and lacks necessities, the transfer will be considered made by fraud, coercion, or pressure. In such a case, the tribunal may hold the children and the relatives guilty and stop the property’s transfer in their names. If the children or the relatives don’t provide proper care or abandon them, it will be a violation of this Act, which may attract up to three months of imprisonment or a fine of Rs 5,000 or both.
