When childhood hurt, estranged ties lead to children not supporting elderly parents

A work group reviewing the Maintenance of Parents Act is proposing to introduce non-monetary orders that could address the root cause of acrimony leading children not to support their parents financially. Insight reports on the deep-seated hurts that underlie maintenance disputes.

The children did not approve of their father's marriage after their mother died, and two of them who had been giving him a total of $500 every month stopped or cut back on their financial contributions.

In desperation, the father of four, who was in his 80s, went to the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents to seek support from his other two children.

The majority of seniors who are granted maintenance by the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents receive less than $500 a month.

In fact, 82 per cent of parents receive less than $500 a month in total from all their children who are ordered to give financial support, Mr Gregory Vijayendran, the tribunal's president, told The Sunday Times.

Madam Teng, 63, has not seen or heard from her four children in the past few years. They ignore her calls.

Teenagers when she divorced their father more than 20 years ago, they were left under her mother's care while she lived alone and worked at making a living.

After his divorce more than a decade ago, the man, now in his 60s, lost contact with his two children.

His son and daughter did not approve of his female companion and they grew distant from him.