An Italian mum has had enough of her freeloading adult sons and has won a court battle to evict them from her home.
The plaintiff, who was only identified as a 75-year-old retiree who lives in the northern Italian city of Pavia, has filed a lawsuit in the Tribunal of Pavia against her two children.
The mum accused her adult sons, aged 40 and 42 respectively, of overstaying their welcome, CNN reports.
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According to the mum’s complaint, both men who were called ‘parasites’ in the court filing, are employed but have continued living in her apartment without paying rent.
The disgruntled parent is separated from her husband and lives off her pension - all of which she uses to upkeep her home and food.
However, her sons are not helping to contribute to the household and, according to the lawsuit, they don’t even help out with chores.
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And Judge Simona Caterbi sided with the mum and ruled that the sons, whom she mocked as ‘bamboccioni’ or ‘big babies’ have until 18 December to move out of their mother’s apartment, the court ruling says.
“There is no provision in the legislation which attributes to the adult child the unconditional right to remain in the home exclusively owned by the parents, against their will and by virtue of the family bond alone,” she wrote in her decision, which was obtained by the local news site Prima Pavia.
It’s culturally acceptable and common for grown up children to still live with their parents in Italy, especially among men who are often dubbed 'mammoni or 'mama’s boys'.
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And because of this common cultural practice, the woman’s sons have hired their own lawyer and countersued their mother to stop her from evicting them, arguing that Italian parents are obligated by law to ‘maintain’ their children as long as needed.
However, in her decision, which was made last Tuesday (24 October), Judge Caterbi acknowledged the existing law but argued that, in this case, ‘it no longer appears justifiable considering the two defendants are subjects over 40, and 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'.
In response to the judge’s ruling, the attorney representing the sons told local news outlets that the two grown lads had not decided yet if they would appeal the eviction order or not.