Wins for Assisted Suicide and at Least One Taxpayer
Here’s our round up of the past month’s developments in estate planning and elder law. We touch on elder law issues from assisted suicide to income taxation of trusts and beyond. See an item that might be of interest? Let us know what you think. Another State OKs Assisted Suicide Maine became the latest state […]
Nursing Home Arbitration Provision Voided in Arizona Case
FEBRUARY 1, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 5 A recent series in the New York Times chronicled the increasingly common practice of including arbitration agreements in all sorts of consumer contracts. The series noted that such provisions are often buried in the fine print of everything from job applications to car rentals to nursing home admission […]
Financial Exploitation Case Leads to Judgment, Disinheritance
MARCH 2, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 9 We hear variations on this same story once every week or so. Dad (it might be Mom, or Aunt Bridget, or a long-time family friend) seemed to be adrift after his wife (her husband, her long-time companion) died. Then he met this woman who moved in with him […]
Nursing Home Arbitration Agreement May Not Be Enforceable
NOVEMBER 17, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 42 If you have recently signed a family member (or a friend, or yourself) into a nursing home or other care facility, you probably have been presented with an agreement to submit all disputes to arbitration. Such provisions are very popular among the facilities themselves, though most individuals who […]
Reporting Abuse, Neglect or Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults
DECEMBER 23, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 48 As people live longer and the elderly population increases, so does the likelihood of abuse, neglect and exploitation of vulnerable adults. Lawyers, accountants, doctors, nurses, caretakers, bankers — indeed, any professional — faces a growing probability that at some point they will be confronted with the issue of […]
Benefits Eligibility Irrelevant in Lawsuit Over Trust Terms
FEBRUARY 6, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 5 What can a parent do to ensure continuing care for his or her adult child with a disability? That was the dilemma facing Californian Earl Blacksher in the late 1980s. His daughter Ida McQueen lived with him in the family home in Oakland. She was developmentally disabled, and […]
Court Cases Demonstrate Two Remedies For Elder Abuse
MAY 17, 2004 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 46 Two recent appellate court cases illustrate different aspects of the law’s response to abuse and exploitation of seniors. Taken together the two cases underscore that protection of vulnerable seniors can be a priority of the legal system. The first case tested California’s law on elder abuse, which permits […]
Lawyer Loses Her Own Case, Faces Bar Disciplinary Action
DECEMBER 15, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 24 Sherri K. apparently thought her stepfather Clifford H. (the court opinion does not disclose family names) needed protection. She asked the California courts to appoint her as conservator, and she alleged that there was an emergency requiring immediate action. Without giving notice to her stepfather or other family […]
Employee’s Name Taken Off State Misappropriation List
JUNE 9, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 49 Financial exploitation of vulnerable seniors is widespread. The problem even arises in controlled settings like adult care homes and nursing homes. That is why the State of Missouri took some extraordinary steps to try to curb financial abuses in institutional settings. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior […]
New York Lawyer Disbarred For Financially Exploiting Seniors
MAY 12, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 45 Financial exploitation of vulnerable seniors is hardly a new problem, but both the frequency and the severity of abuse have increased dramatically in recent years. Many seniors (or their concerned friends and family members) turn to the legal system for help and protection. Sometimes protectors become abusers themselves. […]