Parents and Senior Citizens Act
The Act aims to protect the rights of senior citizens and imposes obligations on children and relatives to ensure the needs of senior citizens are met.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act was implemented by India in 2007.This legislation aims to provide need-based maintenance and welfare for senior citizens. The Act applies to senior citizens over the age of 60, as well as parents, including step-parents. Children encompass adult sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters. If a senior citizen has no children, their legal heir, someone in possession of their property or entitled to inherit it, becomes responsible. The Act ensures that all children are liable to provide maintenance for their parents.
The definition of property under the Act includes movable or immovable property, ancestral property, and rights or interests in such property. This provision prevents the avoidance of maintenance for seniors based on claims to ancestral property.
Maintenance, as defined by the Act, includes food, clothing, residence, medical attendance, medical treatment, and a maximum monthly sum determined by the State Government, not exceeding Rs. 10,000. The Act provides for various provisions to support senior citizens, including welfare measures for food, healthcare, recreation centers, and other necessary amenities.
To claim maintenance, a senior citizen must demonstrate an inability to maintain themselves from their own earnings or property. They can claim maintenance from one or more children or grandchildren who are not minors, or from a relative. The application for maintenance can be filed in the district where the senior citizen or the child/relative resides.
