REVERSE CIVIL LIABILITY: THE OBLIGATION OF CHILDREN IN THE ABANDONMENT OF ELDERLY PARENTS

Abstract

This study analyzes the possibility of civil liability of children for the abandonment of elderly parents, a phenomenon referred to in legal doctrine as reverse civil liability. The research is grounded in the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988, which establishes the duty of adult children to assist and support their parents in old age, need, or illness, as well as in the provisions of the Brazilian Civil Code of 2002 concerning civil liability. The study adopts a bibliographic review and jurisprudential analysis methodology, examining the requirements of unlawful conduct, damage, and causal link within the context of family relationships. The findings indicate that family solidarity has normative status and that unjustified omission in the duty of care may constitute a violation of the dignity of the elderly person, giving rise to civil reparation when the legal requirements are met. However, civil liability must be applied cautiously in order to prevent the trivialization of moral damages and the excessive judicialization of family relationships. It is concluded that reverse civil liability is legally feasible within the Brazilian legal system, functioning as an exceptional instrument for the protection of human dignity and the reaffirmation of intergenerational solidarity, provided that the limits of state intervention in family relations are respected.