Even after a name change, children have duties to their parents. CANVA PRO.
In France, children have a duty to support their parents when they get old or become ill. A duty that Marine Gatineau Dupré, who pushed for the Vignal law on name changes with her association, would like to transform into a law. With the collective “Liens en sang”, she questions this 19th-century law that sometimes pushes people who are victims of incest or abuse to provide for the needs of their tormentors once they are adults.
“It’s an archaic law,” insists Marine Gatineau Dupré, the Palavasian president of the association Porte mon nom. After fighting for the name change law with Patrick Vignal, she is back in the fight. The thousands of testimonies she received inspired her to take on this new battle: the law on the obligation of alimony.
Marine Gatineau Dupré is taking on a new fight after defending the name change law. DR.
When parents get old or sick, it’s up to their children to take care of them. It’s an obligation. A duty, not a right. And while it may seem natural to take care of your parents when you grow up in a healthy, loving family, it’s a double punishment when you’ve suffered abuse. “Imagine, people who are victims of incest have to pay for their father’s nursing home”, laments the forty-year-old.
A law from 1803
“Archaic”, that’s hardly hyperbolic. Article 205 of the Penal Code was promulgated on March 27, 1803, and published in the “Obligations that arise from marriage.” The tone is set. Since then, apart from a few scattered modifications, nothing has changed. “At the time, all generations lived in the same house, of course there was a maintenance obligation. And people died at 45!”, continues Marine Gatineau Dupré.
For her, it is obvious that this law must be rewritten and adapted to mores. While tongues are loosened about incest, abuse, neglect… Of certain parents, it is high time to free victims from their maintenance obligation towards them. She began drafting a bill, with the help of MP Charles Alloncle (UDR).
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“I received the testimony of a woman who is 71 years old. She was raped throughout her childhood by her stepfather, who is now 95 years old. The bailiff came after her to make her pay for the nursing home. She has a miserable pension, her son has Lou Gehrig’s disease… She wants to end her life. She would rather die than pay for the retirement home to her tormentor.”
It is possible to contest this obligation with a family court judge (JAF). It is then necessary to prove “serious failings” by the parents. A total or partial exemption can then be obtained.
When we know that only 12% of incest victims file a complaint, and that among them only 1% are recognized as victims, we understand how difficult it is for children of failing parents to dissociate themselves. Furthermore, 12% of French people report having suffered physical violence from their parents. In 2023, 96,700 cases of violence against minors were reported to the authorities. So many people who are hard to imagine paying for their ascendants.
What cost are we talking about?
The maintenance obligation concerns the children, grandchildren, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law. Not the brothers and sisters of the parent concerned. If the latter can prove that he is in need, the judge orders the descendants to pay alimony or to pay certain expenses for their ascendant. The amount paid is proportional to the debtor's income and the creditor's needs.
Beyond questions of morality, the forty-year-old also questions the financial aspect. Why don't we pay for the nursing home ? Care ? In the same way that we pay for retirement. And why wouldn't the State pay for it if necessary ? In exchange, it would recover the inheritance of the disaffected child. The Palavasienne sees this as a form of balance.
“What we are asking is for the debate to enter the public arena. And for there to be a financial study, an impact study. Let's know concretely what it costs and what it brings in”, insists the Palavasienne.
The average time spent in an Ehpad is three years and four months according to the Dress. Per day in Hérault, you have to spend 68 euros to reside in such an establishment, according to the National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy. In total, on average, it is 81,600 euros to shoulder for the children of dependent elderly people, excluding assistance.
If the children refuse to provide for their parents, they are exposed to a complaint for abandonment of family. An offense punishable by two years of imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros.
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