Law aims to protect seniors’ rights to romance

Elderly people rest at a park in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. [Photo/VCG]

A law drafted by legislators of Hubei province states that people cannot interfere with their elderly parents' freedom for marriage, Legal Daily reported.

The draft law aims to protect seniors' rights, including the right to find a loved one. It reminds people of a recently-aired popular drama The First Half of My Life.

In the drama, the mother of the heroine Luo Zijun fell in love with an elderly man surnamed Cui.

But Cui's son opposed their romance. The son, who had returned from a foreign country, believed Luo's mother sought to obtain the property and money of his father through their relationship. So, he turned the elderly woman out of their house.

Similar cases also happen in reality at times, causing conflicts among family members.

The new law, rolled out to deal with such problems, forbids caretakers and other relatives of elderly people from restricting their rights to residence when they want to divorce or remarry.

Violators should be criticized and educated by their working units, village or urban neighborhood communities or seniors' organizations.

In addition to giving their parents freedom for love, children also should not neglect their duty to support the elderly, according to the law.

It states that caretakers should pay regular visits to their elderly parents living in care homes or other places apart from them. For those who fail to pay their filial piety, a lawsuit could be filed against them and serious violators could be recorded in the credit system.

The law also regulates issues related to seniors' property to prevent such cases where elderly people end up homeless after their houses are disposed of by their children without informing them.

The law states that caretakers should not occupy their parents' houses, alter the property rights relations or force them to move into houses with poor conditions.