Although I am not yet 60 years old, my life is indeed difficult! "My mother is under 60 years old, suffering from a serious illness and facing financial difficulties. Can she ask her daughter to pay alimony? Recently, the People's Court of Xinye County, Henan Province concluded a child support case, which uncovered a legal misconception that is often overlooked by the public - the obligation to support requires parents to be over 60 years old. Chen and her husband Ma have two daughters and have been living separately since 2001. Ma has been working outside, while Chen is raising the two children at home. Chen filed a divorce lawsuit with the court in 2008, but later withdrew the lawsuit. In 2017, Ma accidentally fell while working and died despite rescue efforts. Chen, who is 58 years old and living alone, suffers from coronary heart disease, hypertension and other diseases. He temporarily resides with relatives and needs someone to take care of him. Chen and his two daughters have been unable to reach an agreement on the issue of support, so they filed a lawsuit to the court, requesting that the two daughters fulfill their support obligations and each pay a monthly support fee of 1000 yuan. The court investigation found that there are two reasons why the two daughters are unwilling to pay alimony: first, their mother Chen is not yet 60 years old and not yet old, and second, they are dissatisfied with Chen due to some family conflicts and have feelings of resentment towards him. After the court's trial, it was determined that supporting parents is a legal obligation that children should fulfill, and the person responsible for supporting the parents shall not refuse to fulfill it for any reason. Even if the parents are under 60 years old, if they lack the ability to work or have difficulty living due to physical reasons, the children still have the obligation to pay support. Although Chen is under 60 years old in this case, he is suffering from a disease that requires treatment and cannot obtain an economic source through his own labor. He is currently living with relatives. Considering Chen's actual living conditions and needs, his request for his two daughters to fulfill their obligation to support him is in accordance with the law and should be supported. The court, taking into account factors such as the local economic level and the actual needs of the dependents, calculated the per capita living expenses of rural residents in the previous year and ordered the defendant to pay Chen a monthly alimony of 693.26 yuan per person. (Zhang Shuxin, Zhao Xiaodong) [Judge's statement] Support is not limited to the age of parents. The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly stipulates that elderly people refer to citizens over the age of 60. In practice, many people confuse the subject of requesting alimony with "elderly people" and believe that only those who are over 60 years old can request alimony. However, according to Article 1067 (2) of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "Adult children who fail to fulfill their obligation to support, parents who lack labor ability or living difficulties have the right to demand that their adult children pay alimony", the condition for requesting alimony is the lack of labor ability or living difficulties, and there is no age requirement. The standard for determining whether parents have the right to demand adult children to pay alimony is based on their actual needs. Age can be used as one of the criteria to determine whether the dependent has the ability to work or is facing financial difficulties, but it cannot be used as a limiting condition for fulfilling the obligation of support. Even if parents are not yet in their sixties, as long as they lack the ability to work or face financial difficulties, adult children should fulfill their obligation to support them. (New Society)