Not an isolated case

Linz forces dementia sufferer to sue her son

The new Linz City Hall, home of the Administrative Penalties Department.

(Bild: Werner Pöchinger)

It sounds like a bad joke: in Linz, an 81-year-old woman suffering from dementia and living in a care home was forced by the city to sue her own son for maintenance. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case - and the reasons behind it are extremely strange.

Mrs. Zauner (name changed by the editors) has not had an easy life - and now the city of Linz, of all places, is making it even harder for her. A stroke at a very young age resulted in physical impairments, and in recent years she has also developed dementia, which is progressing rapidly.

Social welfare was cut
Now 81 years old, she has been receiving social welfare for many years because she has never worked and now lives in a care home. She is left with 160 euros a month in pocket money for hygiene products, clothes and the odd visit to the hairdresser. But now she has nothing left at all, because Linz City Council cut her social welfare benefits at the beginning of January.