Government remains committed to safeguarding the elderly and other vulnerable people in Barbados, but Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn wants more families to openly discuss financial and property matters to avoid any contentious issues down the road.
The Member of Parliament for Christ Church East Central was speaking during debate on the Older Persons (Care and Protection) Bill, 2026 in the House of Assembly on Tuesday when he said that a lack of discussion can often lead to “angst” among families related to property transfer and inheritance.
“One of the challenges that we have in our society is we don’t like to talk about things in the family, whether it is medical history or, certainly, financial matters. We don’t like to talk about these things in families.
“And I think one of the very things that bedevils families is the difficulty that some of us may have with making the decision as to who to leave the property to, and these are things that create some angst, as you would appreciate in helping to resolve these matters within families. And therefore, I believe that we need to do more within our communities, Straughn said.
“I know the Financial Literacy Programme is embarking in more community engagement, but the reality is that a lot of our elderly persons worked hard, acquired property, they raised families, in this country. And whilst the Government has put in place mechanisms with respect to the deed of gift, as we articulated a few years ago, in relation to helping families to transition property ownership in these spaces, these are the things that we need to engage with our elderly population as to how they can transfer ownership, to . . . whomever – children, dependents – so that their rights certainly can be, yes, protected in that context, as part of how we support their livelihoods into their old age.
“And whilst we are finalising the mechanism now for issues related to reverse mortgages and the like, to service the persons of this demographic, it is going to be important that we engage in some fairly aggressive education, if you like, such that persons that this Bill could potentially impact, that they understand how they can exercise and take advantage of said opportunities.”
Straughn said it was important for the issues related to older people be discussed because Government did not want to see their hard work – whether it was the family home or “the acre of land that is available to come into production” – end up in a non-productive state and “become potentially, public nuisances”.
“But perhaps worse is to have siblings fighting over what to do with the property, because that type of dysfunction, is really not healthy for a society.”
The minister added: “We really must encourage our elderly population that either through the process of the making of a will and those types of things, to actually make a decision as to who will take on the responsibility for these assets, such that there’s an orderly process with respect to how these things are discharged.”
He noted further: “The one thing that has held back the development of a number of families in this country is the failure of us creating an ecosystem that allows for some of these things to happen in a much seamless way.”
The Bill was passed. (GBM)
