Judge rules there’s no place like home
A 27-year-old man has finally moved out of home, even though a judge ruled his mother had no legal right to charge him rent
Hotel Mama
The mum in question is Claudine Deprez from Menen, West Flanders. She has three grown children, all of whom live with her. Two of them kick in €250 a month to help with costs, which is what you might expect from working adults – the sum of €8.33 a day for gas, electricity, water, food and drink, not to mention rent.
The third offspring, a young man of 27, refuses to contribute, even though he, like his siblings, has a full-time job. Deprez, 53, hauled him up before the justice of the peace, who ordered the delinquent son to leave Hotel Mama within eight days. Deprez, soft hearted mother that she is, could not bring herself to kick her chick out of the nest. That was three years ago.
The son did leave the family home in the end, under police escort, when an argument over money and responsibilities got out of hand. Deprez tried again to get an agreement, and the case came before the family tribunal last week, which ruled that she had no right to charge her kids for living with her.
Although Deprez’s son is earning a salaray, she cannot impose a charge on him unless he has signed a contract, said the judge. In the absence of such a contract, mum walked away empty-handed. Caveat parens.
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