RICO’s Q — It could be assumed that providing for the well-being of parents during their old age, especially when they do not generate their own income or have a pension, is a logical and unquestionable fact for children.
However, this is not always the case.
The Código de Familia (Costa Rica’s Family Code) establishes the rules on under which circumstances children and even other family members must contribute so that their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents have the appropriate living conditions, while the Penal Code indicates the possible legal consequences of failing to comply with this duty.
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According to the family law specialist, Gerardo Jiménez, the protection of parents in terms of food begins with what is established in article 169 of the Family Code, which specifies that the following must provide food: “children to their parents, including those who are foster children,” as well as “grandchildren and great-grandchildren to grandparents and great-grandparents.”
Further, article 232 it is states that: “Elderly persons shall be subject to care by sons and daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, brothers and sisters, without prejudice to their right to independence and autonomy.”
What is meant by care? Article 231 explains that it is the actions that people require to satisfy their basic needs, educational, health, protection, nutrition, recreation, accompaniment, including stimulation for the development of skills, competencies, daily life activities and others.
According to Jiménez, the above gives elderly parents the possibility to file a claim for alimony against their children, in circumstances where they do not have a source of income or when the pension is minimal or they do not receive it at all, so that they cannot, on their own, meet their needs.
It is in this scenario where the judge will analyze the need of the father or mother who requests the pensión alimentaria (a legal right that allows a person to receive money from another person who is or was related to them by kinship or a relationship to cover the needs of the beneficiary), and the economic possibility of the defendant, to establish whether or not it should be granted, as well as the amount of said pension.
The lawyer explains that if the child in question does not have their own income, the judge could rule them out of assuming this alimony, and then the next in order of preference would be the grandchildren who generate an economic activity, followed by his brothers or sisters.
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In this analysis, those parents who failed to fulfill their parental duties and who did not provide for their children when they were minors are exempt from receiving the pensión alimentaria.
Jiménez also clarified that in cases where the defendant child does not generate their own income, if they have a spouse who does generate income, they have no obligation to provide a pension, since there is no kinship with the elderly plaintiff.
However, another factor to be assessed by the judge is whether, although the child does not have an economic activity, his lifestyle within that marriage gives them the faculties, conditions and possibilities to generate their own income, which could allow them to assume responsibility.
“Let’s suppose that the husband has a good job and earns well, and she (the wife) only does housework, but her usual lifestyle is comfortable. That could be interpreted as meaning that she has access to economic resources. It may be that she can generate resources or can have access to them. There are differences: there are women dedicated to the home by their own decision or by the decision of the family, and there are those who cannot produce money as a result of a situation where they do not have the capacity to develop paid work,” explained the lawyer.
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Abandonment in Costa Rica
According to the president of the Consejo Nacional de la Persona Adulta Mayor (Conapam) – National Council for Older Adults, Norbel Román, the entity’s call center has received more than three thousand calls since 2022, 30% of which have to do with abandonment.
The head of the institution was emphatic that abandonment does not only refer to the monetary aspect, but also to the physical and emotional aspect, which is reflected through disinterest and even negligence.
“Normalizing the abandonment of older adults is a type of violence. From my point of view, after killing, abandonment is the worst thing there can be,” said Román.
Specifically, article 142 bis of the Penal Code establishes prison sentences for anyone who abandons an older adult.
It reads as follows:
- Anyone who has the obligation to care for and abandons an older adult in a vulnerable state will be fined ten to one hundred days or imprisoned for one to six months.
- The sanction will be from six months to three years prison, if as a consequence of the abandonment the life, physical, mental or social health of the older adult is put in danger, provided that it is not more severely punished.
- If serious damage to the body or health of the elderly person were to result, the penalty will be three to six years in prison.
- If the death of the elderly person were to occur as a result of the abandonment, the sentence will be six to ten years in prison, provided that the punishment is not more severe.
Román indicated that the country has already clearly defined, through the different articles of the Law, its way of seeing the care of this population, so that in cases of abandonment, one must raise one’s voice.
“Let’s take care of the elderly and teach new generations that aging is a natural process in life. That it’s nice to grow old, but surrounded by support,” said the president of Conapam.
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