The right to inherit as compensation for elderly caregiving tasks

ALEJANDRO BERROTARÁN

Louvain La Neuve

Workshop; Fair Inheritance Workshop #5; 2023

Hoover Chaire - Université catholique de Louvain

An increasing number of older adults require assistance to carry out their daily activities. This demand for caregiving services is mainly met by family members, mostly women, who perform these tasks without receiving any compensation for it. In this presentation, I will analyze the possibility of recognizing a right to inherit by children who provide care to their elderly parents as a mechanism of compensation for the tasks performed. This compensatory right to inherit will be subjected to three critiques. The first critique states that children have a duty to care for their parents. If providing care is a family obligation, it cannot be the source of a compensation. The second critique states that recognizing a right to inherit for family care tasks violates state neutrality because it implies assuming a comprehensive conception of the family and applying it to society. The third critique points out that the State is the main responsible for financing the care of the elders, so compensation for the performance of these tasks is not the elder's responsibility. In addressing each of these critiques I will present objections that can be made to them. Finally, I will conclude that a right to inherit can be conceived as a mechanism of compensation for care tasks under non-ideal conditions.