Filial Responsibility Law Maryland: Repealed in 2017

The nursing home intake coordinator slides a stack of papers across the desk and points where you should sign. You're terrified that by participating in your parent's admission, you're making yourself personally responsible for bills that could reach $12,000+ per month. The fear is understandable — and in Maryland, it's unfounded.

Maryland Repealed Its Filial Responsibility Law

Maryland officially repealed its filial responsibility statute in 2017. Before the repeal, Maryland law theoretically allowed care providers to pursue adult children for their parents' unpaid care costs. That law no longer exists.

Today, adult children in Maryland have no legal obligation to pay for a parent's food, shelter, medical care, or nursing home bills — unless they voluntarily and knowingly sign a contract agreeing to assume financial responsibility.

This puts Maryland in a distinct category. Roughly 30 states still have filial responsibility laws on the books (though most are rarely enforced). In Pennsylvania, a court famously held an adult son liable for $93,000 in nursing home bills under that state's filial law. That scenario cannot happen in Maryland.

The POA Signing Trap

Here's where families get confused: when you sign nursing home admission paperwork as your parent's Power of Attorney, you are signing as their agent — not as a personal guarantor. You are authorizing the use of your parent's assets to pay for their care. You are not pledging your own money.

However, some facilities include language in their intake documents that blurs this distinction, or they slip in a personal guarantee clause alongside the POA signature lines. Before signing anything:

• Read every document carefully, even under time pressure
• Refuse to sign any clause that makes you personally financially responsible
• Write "as Agent/Attorney-in-Fact for [Parent's Name]" next to every signature
• Cross out or decline any personal guarantee language

Under the federal Nursing Home Reform Act, Medicaid-certified facilities are legally prohibited from requiring a third party (such as an adult child) to guarantee payment as a condition of admission. If a facility tells you they won't admit your parent unless you personally guarantee the bill, they are violating federal law.

What You Are Responsible For

Even though you're not liable for care costs, you may have responsibilities as a healthcare agent or Power of Attorney:

• Managing your parent's own assets to pay for their care
• Making healthcare decisions if designated as healthcare agent
• Providing accurate financial information during the Medicaid application
• Cooperating with the facility's care plan as a family participant

None of these create personal financial liability for the care charges themselves.

Protecting Yourself

Document everything. When you sign intake paperwork, keep copies. If a facility pressures you to guarantee payment, note the date, the staff member's name, and what was said. This documentation protects you if a collection agency later contacts you about your parent's bills.

The Maryland Hospital Discharge Guide includes a Non-Liability Signing Template — a printable addendum you can attach to nursing home intake paperwork that formally states your role as agent and disclaims personal liability.

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