With the deepening of the aging population, the high-end elderly care market has developed rapidly, especially in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, as well as some second-tier cities. However, the cost of high-end pension institutions is much higher than that of ordinary pension institutions, and the choice of high-end pension institutions in the case of insufficient economic conditions will undoubtedly bring a heavier economic burden to the family. So, can parents claim pension expenses from their children? Recently, the Dongcheng District People's Court of Beijing heard a case in which an octogenarian sued his four daughters for high alimony in order to live in a high-end elderly care institution. The court made a separate decision on the elderly's alimony claim after taking into account the elderly's income, assets, and physical condition, the children's willingness to pay, their financial ability, and their support for the elderly. The judgment of this case not only takes into account the balance of interests, but also advocates a suitable way of providing for the elderly, and conveys a clear value orientation to the society. Virtue, the beginning of filial piety, as a child, has the obligation to support the elderly, support does not only refer to economic support, but also includes life care and spiritual comfort; As parents, they should also proceed from reality in their maintenance needs, minimize the financial burden of their children when conditions permit, and choose the appropriate way to provide for the elderly.
The elderly are admitted to a high-end nursing home and ask their four daughters to bear the cost.
Mrs. He is 88 years old this year, and her husband died more than 20 years ago. She has four daughters, all of whom have married their own families, three of whom are divorced and do not have a good life; The youngest daughter has been living abroad for a long time and does not often contact her family; The eldest daughter and the second daughter are also busy with their own lives, and although they can visit and greet them during the New Year's holidays, they can't take care of them all the time. Therefore, most of the old ladies live alone in a two-bedroom house in Chaoyang District, Beijing, and take care of their own food and daily life.
The years are unforgiving. Although Mrs. He is a strong person, as she gets older, her osteoporosis becomes more and more serious, weighing only more than 60 pounds, and her mobility is becoming more and more inconvenient. Because there is often no one to take care of her life, her daughters have helped her find several nannies, but they are always unsatisfactory.
Later, Mrs. He heard from other old colleagues that there was a high-end nursing home around Beijing, with a comfortable living environment, medical facilities, and professionally trained service staff, so she was moved. After the field trip, Mrs. He was very satisfied and immediately decided to move in. However, this nursing home is relatively expensive, with a basic cost of about 12,000 yuan per month, and a one-time prepayment for one year. Mrs. He's savings and pension were not enough, so she found someone to advance money to live in first.
Then, Mrs. He asked her four daughters for money, but they hit the nail. Especially the third daughter and the youngest daughter, when they heard that their mother lived in such an expensive nursing home, not only did they not give money, but they were also emotional and had a bad tone. So, in a fit of rage, Mrs. He sued her daughters to the court, demanding that they fulfill their obligation to support themselves and share the one-year nursing home fees that have been paid in their own names totaling 144,000 yuan; In the future, alimony will continue to be paid according to this standard, which is 3,500 yuan per person per month.
The four daughters have different attitudes and a large gap in their ability to pay.
The eldest daughter and the second daughter said that they also have their own families and are not too young to take care of their mothers all the time, although their financial ability is limited, they are willing to do their best to honor their mothers, and they can give as much as their mothers want.
The third daughter said that she is also in her 60s, no savings, although she has a pension of more than 7,000 yuan per month, but because of the divorce, there is no house in her name, and there is no other place to live, so she can only rent a house, and now the monthly rent is nearly 4,000 yuan, plus her own living expenses, there is little money left in her hand, and she cannot afford the pension advocated by her mother.
The youngest daughter said that she had already taken early retirement when she went abroad, and her monthly pension was only more than 2,000 yuan, and she had no job abroad, and she had been living with her husband on her daughter, so she could only fulfill her maintenance obligations within her ability, and she could give about 400 yuan of alimony every month. She believes that mothers have their own houses and should live in their own homes, and if they can't take care of themselves, they can hire nannies or other daughters in China to take turns to take care of them, rather than going to high-end nursing homes to increase the financial burden on their children. In addition, the law also clearly stipulates that the elderly take home care as the main way, and now the high-end nursing home where the mother lives is too expensive for ordinary families to afford at all. If the mother has to live, she can also rent out the house first, pay the nursing home expenses with the rent, plus the mother's pension is not low, and there are savings, so she should be able to afford the pension expenses by herself.
Upon inquiry, all parties confirmed that the monthly income of Mrs. He and her four daughters were: Mrs. He 5,547 per month5 yuan, 4536 per month for the eldest daughter75 yuan, 2774 per month for the second daughter92 yuan, 7019 yuan per month for the third daughter, and 2933 yuan per month for the youngest daughter54 yuan. In addition, Mrs. He has more than 50,000 yuan in her bank account. Mrs. He said that the savings had to be kept for daily life, and she did not agree to use them to pay for the nursing home.
The amount of alimony to be paid should be matched to the actual situation.
After trial, the Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court held that the focus of the dispute in this case was whether the elderly could require their children to bear the costs of a high-end nursing home when they could not be taken care of in close proximity.
According to Article 1067 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, parents who fail to perform their maintenance obligations and who lack the ability to work or who have difficulties in living have the right to demand alimony from their adult children. When determining the amount of alimony to be paid to the child, the local economic level, the age and physical condition of the dependent, the basic living and medical needs, the income of the dependent, the number of children, the income and working capacity of each child and other relevant factors should be taken into account.
In this case, Mrs. He has her own house, has a pension income of more than 5,000 yuan per month, and enjoys medical insurance benefits. However, considering that Mrs. He is nearly 90 years old and can no longer take care of herself, she does need someone to take care of her on weekdays, and her four daughters all said that they cannot accompany and take care of her closely, so even if Mrs. He does not live in a high-end nursing home, she still has the actual need to ask a nanny to take care of her.
As of the time of the lawsuit, the one-year term of the high-end pension service contract signed by Mrs. He was about to expire, and since this part of the expenses had actually been paid, and none of the four daughters had been closely cared for during this period, this part of the expenses should be supported as appropriate after deducting the part that Mrs. He had the financial ability to pay. With regard to the amount of alimony thereafter, in view of the fact that alimony dispute cases resolve the most basic material living needs of the dependents, if the children are able, they should try their best to provide better material conditions for the parents' later life, but the parents should also minimize the financial burden of the children and choose the appropriate way to provide for the elderly. In this case, if Mrs. He does not choose to live at home, she may consider renting out her house to alleviate the financial pressure on her children. To sum up, on the premise of fully considering Mrs. He's actual needs, economic situation and alternative options, the court made a discretionary decision on Mrs. He's follow-up maintenance expenses based on the children's income and willingness to pay.
The picture shows the judge interpreting the law after the judgment.
Communicate with the parties about the maintenance of the elderly.
After the court's explanation, Mrs. He's eldest daughter and second daughter still said that the mother was willing to pay as much as she claimed, and the court did not object and allowed it. In the end, the court ruled that Mrs. He's eldest daughter and second daughter should each bear 35,010 yuan for the high-end nursing home expenses that have been incurred, and then pay 3,500 yuan each month in alimony; The third daughter and the youngest daughter each bear 20,600 yuan for the high-end nursing home expenses that have been generated, and then pay 800 yuan per month for alimony.
At the same time, the court pointed out in the judgment that honoring one's parents is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and that no matter what the child's economic ability is, he or she should at least respect his or her parents in words and attitudes. Judging from the performance in court and the statements of the parties, the third daughter and the youngest daughter showed little care for their mother, and their attitude towards their mother was indifferent, which should be improved. Mrs. He is nearly 90 years old, and in addition to financial support, her daughters should be given more companionship and care in life and emotion.
Referee analysis. 
Rong Hui, Judge of the Second Civil Trial Division of the People's Court of Dongcheng District, Beijing.
The standard of alimony should be judged on a case-by-case basis.
With the aging of society, caregivers are also facing an aging trend, and factors such as children going out to work, single-child families, divorce and widowhood also make home care chaling challenging. As in the present case, three of the four defendants are over 60 years of age, and such elderly dependents are not uncommon in relevant cases before the courts.
The Civil Code clarifies the obligation of adult children to support their parents. In judicial practice, the evaluation of whether the maintenance obligation has been fulfilled needs to consider the maintenance needs and actual expenses of the person being supported, and should also be combined with the daily life standard of the person being supported, the level of local consumption, and the support ability of the person with the obligation to support, etc., to conduct a specific analysis and judgment on the circumstances of the case, and comprehensively consider it in accordance with the principle of seeking truth from facts. In this case, the dependents are old and need to be cared for, but the children are not in a position to be taken care of closely, so it is reasonable to choose a nursing institution for the elderly. However, the pension institution chosen by the dependant is expensive, far exceeding the actual ability of the supporter to pay. Considering that the dependents still have a pension of more than 5,000 yuan per month, and if they choose to provide for the elderly in an old-age institution, the house will be vacant, and the house can be rented out and the rental income can be used to pay part of the expenses of the old-age institution to reduce the financial burden of the supporter; For the supporter, the maintenance shall be determined proportionately in addition to ensuring the basic expenses of the family, taking into account his or her own income situation.
At the same time, in addition to financial support, children's support for their parents should also include daily care and spiritual comfort. Regardless of their financial ability, children should be filial to their elders and love their relatives, and respect their parents in words and attitudes.
Expert commentary. 
*Wang Wei, Director and Professor of the Civil and Commercial Economic Law Office of the Department of Political Science and Law of the Party School (National Academy of Administration).
In the context of aging, the problem of old-age care should be comprehensively treated.
This case is of typical exemplary significance for clarifying the standard of alimony payment in the context of social aging.
According to the National Health Commission, the total number of elderly people aged 60 and above will exceed 300 million during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, accounting for more than 20%, entering the stage of moderate aging. With the increase in the proportion of the elderly population, it is becoming more and more common for the elderly to choose the form of old-age care institutions. According to the Statistical Communiqué of the People's Republic of China on National Economic and Social Development in 2022 released by the National Bureau of Statistics in February 2023, there were 40,000 elderly care institutions and 822 elderly care service beds at the end of 202230,000 sheets. Compared with the current social as the main family self-care mode, the pension cost of the pension institution is more expensive, how to bear the pension cost has become an urgent problem to be solved, and the standard of the performance of the maintenance obligation also needs to be clarified. In solving the problems in the field of old-age care, comprehensive treatment should be taken from the moral and legal, family and social levels.
First of all, we should vigorously promote the traditional virtues of filial piety and love for the elderly, and promote the co-governance of Germany and France. The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly stipulates that children shall fulfill their obligations to provide financial support, daily care and spiritual comfort to the elderly, and take care of the special needs of the elderly. Family members who live separately from the elderly shall frequently visit or greet the elderly. Whether from the moral level or the legal level, as children, they should take the initiative to fulfill their maintenance obligations, pay attention to the needs of the elderly, and provide the elderly with material and spiritual comfort.
Secondly, we should implement people-oriented and meet diversified pension needs. Although we advocate home-based care, with the accelerating trend of aging, in reality, a large number of supporters have no time to take care of the elderly closely, and a large number of elderly people have difficulties in caring for the elderly at home, which is also a problem that cannot be ignored. The relevant law makes it clear that the caregiver shall bear the responsibility of caring for the elderly who are unable to take care of themselves;Where they cannot take care of them in person, they may entrust others or elderly care establishments to take care of them in accordance with the wishes of the elderly. At present, through policy guidance and capital investment, we are vigorously developing socialized pension services, and carrying out various forms of pension services such as community pension, institutional pension, sojourn pension, and mutual pension, so as to provide all-round care and security for the elderly.
Thirdly, we should build a harmonious family and choose the right way to provide for the elderly. Pension is not a matter of one person, but of the whole family. To choose the type of old-age care, family members should fully communicate, understand each other, and work together. As children, we should fully consider the physical condition and actual needs of the elderly, pay attention to the mental health of the elderly, and provide parents with a comfortable way to care for the elderly as much as possible; The elderly should also take into account the economic conditions of the individual and their children in the light of the actual situation of the whole family, and should not impose excessive economic, spiritual and moral burdens on their children.
Contributed by: Dongcheng Courthouse.
Original title: "The elderly want to live in a high-end nursing home, should the cost be paid by the children?" Small cases make a big difference