Uz problem "davanja na komenciju" na vinkovačkom području
Contractual Maintenance of Old People in the Vinkovci Area

Summary/Abstract: Contractual maintenance relations have existed in the Vinkovci area and larger Slavonia for a long time. Such a relationship is established by a contract according to which an owner of land makes someone his/her legal heir in exchange for lifelong sustenance and proper funeral arrangements (dohrana i sahrana). This phenomenon can be traced back to the turn of the century when last large zadruge derided and nuclear families became predominant. Older people have been frequently left alone, without legal heirs, on estates which they are no longer able to farm. Or their children, ^uninterested in farm-work, abandon the village. Hence, old people must often establish contractual maintenance relationships with relatives, neighbors or persons recommended to them. In the village of Nuštar near Vinkovci, a retirement home for the villagers has been founded. Rather than paying monthly alimonies, old rural people can grant their property to the home in exchange for lifelong sustenance. This is a new, socialized form of care for old persons, but it rests on the principles which people experience as traditional.

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