Judges uphold Taiwanese divorcee’s contracts with her two
sons requiring them to reimburse her for their upbringing and education...
Taiwan’s top court has ordered a dentist to pay his mother around
£554,000 as reimbursement for the money she spent raising and educating
him....
Cases of abuse and abandonment of senior citizens have been on the rise in Taiwan
in recent years, prompting calls for a law to jail adults who fail to
look after their elderly parents although it is yet to pass.
Let me see: I have three children. It costs
an estimated $245,000 to raise a child in the U.S. Does this mean I'm owed $735,000 and never even knew it? I'm afraid this all falls into the category of the old logic silly, "All tables have four legs/ My dog has four legs/ Therefore my dog is a table."
I wonder if they could counter sue arguing the quality of their childhood.
ReplyDeleteSounds like societally ingrained ancient Confucianism was taken into the justice system of Taiwan then the lawyers added a twist of contract law.
ReplyDeleteSome 2500 years ago Confucius set forth the concept of “Filial Piety.”
Briefly it encompasses two principles:
1. Obedience to one’s parent’s wishes (on the flip side parents should be wise, kind, reasonable & honorable.)
2. The expectation and implicit understanding that children are to take care their parents when they become ill and elderly.
The Guardian was skimpy in details. It didn’t make the familial situation clear. Also, it didn’t make the legal situation clear.
I am left with wondering if justice was served. I also wonder if the government or a political interest group, or the media co-opted the case as a way of spotlighting the Taiwanese Social Security, Pension and Retirement Systems.
Olcharlie raises an interesting corollary, but who writes the contract protecting the children?