Osoyoos man sued for support by mother

An Osoyoos man is embroiled in a decade long legal fight against his mother, as she fights to have him pay parental support.

Ken Anderson and his three siblings are fighting her request as they have not had a relationship with the woman since they were kids.

“They left and I had to stay here and provide myself,” says Anderson of the turning point when he was 15. “I had to quite school and go to work.”

BC's parental support law is part of the Family Relations Act, and says a child is liable to maintain and support a parent, who may be dependent because of age, illness, or economic circumstances.

Anderson and his wife Sherry, who run a logging truck business and have two sons, say the legal battle has been expensive and stressful.

“At night we'll say okay, we just have to get through another couple months, but we've been doing this for years, and it's tough, it's very tough,” she says.

The Anderson says their mother is looking for two to three hundred dollars from each of the siblings, something they say they can’t afford. But they’re not letting the legal battle tear their own family apart.

“You know what, we're getting stronger,” Sherry Anderson says. “We have two wonderful boys. I guess you do one of two things, either you curl in a ball and you quit or you get stronger.”

Anderson’s mother or her lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.