If you are a different nationality which laws are you governed by?

[BanterButler]

I have lived in the UK all my life, but was born in a different European country which is also the country of my fathers birth. I hold a passport from the other country.

I've not had any contact with my father for over twenty years for reasons I'd rather not go into. I have been told that in his country children are required to pay back the government if their parent goes into a care home. My father never paid maintenance or anything towards me and my sister and I really don't want to end up paying a penny towards him. I'm trying to find out what we can do to avoid this. As we've lived here since we were babies and both married British men we could easily (although not inexpensively) change our nationality to British. We both want to do this anyway, but the cost has meant it's had to wait.

My question is will this stop us being liable for him? He has caused a lot of financial problems for our DM over the years that made our childhoods very very tough so we have no desire to help him at all.

I would be extremely surprised if you'd have to pay a penny towards your father's costs.

I can't imagine you would have to pay.I suppose it depends what agreements though that country has with Britain, though. It may be European Union law.

Is it definitely law in this other country?

I very much doubt they are going to chase you to this country for you to pay someone else's health care bills.

It is definitely law, there was recently a case of a adult child who had no contact with their parent for so many years that they didn't know if they were alive or not. They were taken to court and forced to pay.

Yes this is the law in Germany. My mother's father was in a home in Germany until his death, however my mother lives in Canada and has not had anything to do with her father since being deported for trying to kill her mother. She has never had to pay anything because she was not traceable as his daughter not ever having contact with him and as she became a Canadian citizen.

I have asked if she ever wanted to find out when he died, etc, etc. She has said not because if she was would 'digging' and the authorities found out then she would be liable.

Interesting question. I don't think changing nationality would make much difference.

In some European countries such as Benelux and Germany children in need of any age can claim maintenance from their parents and indeed parents in need can also claim maintenance from their children.

There are reciprocal arrangements between countries for the enforcement of family maintenance court orders but I would imagine an order for maintaining a parent in one country wouldn't be enforceable in the UK.

Liability for relatives also applies in France, or at least it did when my MIL needed care 5 years ago. She and FIL had retired over there, but were very bad with money, and when MIL developed dementia, and really needed full-time care in a home, FIL just couldn't pay for it, - so we were approached by French Health Dept (or similar)

DH, and all his siblings, were sent very complicated forms, (which were difficult to translate), and wanted to know all about our assets/mortgage etc.

Sadly, MIL died before it was finalized, and we were required to pay anything, but it was very worrying at the time. I don't know if there is some kind of policy/insurance that ex-pats can take out to prevent that kind of thing happening - something to consider when elderly relatives retire abroad!

Very interesting (and somewhat scary - let's hope no one from the treasury is reading this!!!!!)

I'd be interested to know whether the French system merely assesses the capital of children and determines on that basis whether parents are eligible for aid, or whether they actually can force younger generatiuons to pay.

Found an article (in German) that might explain the German system:
www.dispo.de/forum/read.php?13,1233

Also a thread in another forum on this subject.
www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t145703.html

We have long had the principle here that wealth cascades down the generations, and there is no legal responsibility to contribute towards older generations.

I would not think that foreign courts could enforce payment of such contributins through the courts here, at least not as a maintenance order in family proceedings anyway. There are particular provisions for encorcing maintenance orders recipocally, and that does not extend to this seperate class of claims.

Just a further thought...

State pensions in Germany are far more generous than over here. I imagine their demographics are similar to ours, in that the younger generation may not be able to expect the same pensions that the older gereration teed up for themselves. Imagine the injustice of, on top of having to fund for your parents a far more generous pension than youll ever get, having to dip in to income or capital to meet their end of life care. It provides no incentive for the elderly to save, knowing that their children can pick up the tab. Those elderly who are close to their children will worry about that, and want to do something about it. Those who don't care for their children won't mind this at all.

Yes in my case we are talking about Germany, I really am German only by passport as I've lived here since I was a baby and don't even speak the language. The authorities could find me with no problems because I have my passport. My father doesn't own any property as far as I know, it's very much a renting culture. He is also very dodgy financially has ripped off almost everyone he knows including my sister who was far more trusting than me.

What sort of solicitor should I look for, I think I need some good advice here?

A German one.

I doubt that taking British nationality will make any difference at all, but there may be a question about how much effort they will make to pursue payment from adult children who live outside Germany.

There are lists on the Foreign Office website of English-speaking lawyers abroad. You could start by looking at the UK in Germany pages.

Resolution is right that you need to ask a German solicitor for advice, but even more than that, it should be a solicitor specialising in family law (Familienrecht) who lives/practices in the same state where your father now lives. Germany is a federal country with many local laws, and a solicitor will know how seriously those laws are taken locally.

I remember a case some years back of a woman in Berlin who had been abused by her father as a child. He was imprisoned for this and they had no subsequent contact. But when he died she was chased by the authorities for the costs of his funeral, as the only surviving relative. Not surprisingly she said no way, but I think the court insisted that she should. Can't remember if she did in the end or not.