'My son forgot me': Mother sues son for neglecting her

（People's Daily Online）  18:12, July 19, 2013  

Edited and translated by Wang Xin, People's Daily Online.

Li Lanyu, 78, is a widow who has had two sons, but the youngest died two year ago.

For her, the only son should be her immediate family, but she was obliged to send him to court… and she keened and yelled at the court: “My son forgot me.”

Li sued her son Li Wanglun for lack of emotional care and physical support on her after the village committee failed the coordination with him. Although they live closer, her son doesn’t visit her often, and pretends not to see her when they meet; he does not support her financially either. In the court, Li Lanyu demanded her son to visit her once a month in addition to providing her with financial support.

But her daughter-in-law, as the delegate of Li Wanglun in the trial, believed they didn’t do anything wrong and suffered injustice. Li’s granddaughter argued that they cannot give the grandma too much, because her family’s income is very low. Her father is 60 now, and her mother has sickness. In addition, her grandma has pension to support herself.

At the end of the trial, Li Lanyu’s lawyer said that parents miss their offspring; when people approaching toward to each other, their heart will get closer.

The court didn’t make the ruling on that day. This is a moral issue, so it is difficult to judge. Recently China has introduced new law on “elderly care” which requires offspring to visit their parents regularly; it aims to make adults take care of their elderly parents both physically and mentally. Although moral cannot be measured by law, some moral obligations need to be ensured through laws. | Also See: Law demands visits to parents