Photo: Kazim Yildirimli/Getty Images
Arrivederci, big boomerang babies! A 75-year-old retiree in the northern Italian city of Pavia has won her court case to evict her two 40-something sons from her house, a local court clerk told CNN on Friday. According to a complaint filed by the woman, these 40- and 42-year-old “parasites” have been living in the family apartment, without doing any housework or making any financial contributions, even though they are grown men with jobs. The woman, who is separated from the father of the alleged deadbeats, says that as a result of their arrested development, food and home maintenance have entirely consumed her pension.
Somehow, the woman’s sons did manage to find the funds to hire lawyers and were fighting the eviction, arguing that Italian law requires parents to take care of their children as long as necessary. Judge Simona Caterbi, who presided over the case, cited said law in her ruling, agreeing that the men staying in their mother’s home “could initially be considered well founded because the law is based on the maintenance obligation incumbent on the parent,” but noted it “no longer appears justifiable,” especially considering both defendants are over 40.
“Once a certain age has been exceeded, the child can no longer expect the parents to continue the maintenance obligation beyond limits that are no longer reasonable,” Caterbi wrote, adding that there is “no provision” in existing legislation that gives adult children “the unconditional right to remain in the home exclusively owned by the parents, against their will and by the virtue of the family bond alone.”
The supposed layabouts have not yet decided if they plan to appeal the court’s decision, their lawyer told local media. In the meantime, Judge Caterbi has given the two bamboccioni” (Italian for “big babies’) until December 18 to vacate their mother’s home. Here’s hoping they know how to pack their own suitcases.
