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    July 07, 2020

    Elder Abuse

    Explore the Commission's wide array of resources on the subject of Elder Abuse

    Explore the Commission's wide array of resources on the subject of Elder Abuse

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    NEW!

    Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation: Checklist for Lawyers - This checklist is available  for your use at no charge, consistent with the copyright statement on page one.  This checklist was developed as part of the Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation Prevention Program (EIFFE Legal) in collaboration between the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging and the Investor Protection Trust. (March 2020)

    For more information about the EIFFE Prevention Program--Legal, scroll down to the Financial Exploitation section of this web page or visit the Investor Protection Trust's web site at https://www.investorprotection.org/ipt-activities/?fa=eiffe-pp

     

    Featured Resources

    Laws Related to Elder Abuse

    Mandatory and Permissive Reporting Laws

    Durable Power of Attorney Abuse

    Legal Issues Related to Elder Abuse: Pocket and Desk Guides for Law Enforcement

    With funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Commission has produced three free publications. Learn more and download copies now by visiting the guides homepage.

    Elder Justice Act

    The full text and current updates on projects created by the act can be found at https://acl.gov/about-acl/elder-justice-act

    Background Links

    The Judicial System's Role in Cases Involving Elder Abuse

    Elder Abuse and the State Courts: Three Curricula for Judges and Court Staff

    This document contains three curricula and a conferees’ manual. By Lori Stiegel (1997).

    • State Judicial Educators and other program planners can use the curricula to guide the development of general and specialized seminars for judges with civil, probate, criminal, or family court jurisdiction and of a related general seminar for court staff. They can use the conferees' manual as a resource for faculty members and as a handout for seminar participants.
    • Faculty members can use the curricula to guide their planning for and presentations at general and specialized seminars for judges with civil, probate, criminal, or family court jurisdiction and related general seminars for court staff. They can also use the conferees' manual as their primary resource document for their presentations. After the program, they may also use the manual as a freestanding deskbook or reference manual.
    • Program participants can use the conferees' manual as a resource document during the elder abuse program and as a freestanding deskbook or reference manual after the program.

    Recommended Guidelines for State Courts Handling Cases Involving Elder Abuse 

    In 1995, the Commission published Recommended Guidelines for State Courts Handling Cases Involving Elder Abuse, resulting from a nationwide research project funded by the State Justice Institute. Although the print document is no longer available, the report remains pertinent. The full report (except for its state statutory charts ) is provided section by section and may be downloaded at no cost. 

    Elder Abuse Fatality Review Teams

    Elder abuse fatality review teams review deaths resulting from or related to elder abuse to identify system gaps and improve victim services. Elder Abuse Fatality Review Teams: A Replication Manual (2005) raises the issues and challenges that a developing or ongoing team may face.  It offers ideas for addressing those challenges that have been used by elder abuse, child abuse, or domestic violence fatality review teams. It discusses potential sources of funding and provides examples and analyses of key team documents prepared by elder abuse fatality review teams, such as mission statements, memoranda of understanding, policies, procedures, protocols, confidentiality forms, and data collection forms.  Eleven charts updated or added in 2019, along with a variety of other resources, have made our EAFRT work even more helpful.

    Guardianship Jurisdiction

    Neglect

    Threshold Eligibility Criteria

    Types of Abuse

    Undue Influence

    Court-Focused Elder Abuse Initiatives

    ABA Study Demonstrates Court-Focused Elder Abuse Initiatives Enhance Access to Justice for Victims and Offer Benefits to Courts and Other Agencies

    Judges, court administrators, service providers, policymakers, and funders in other communities should give serious consideration to implementing similar efforts.

    Banks Reporting Financial Abuse of the Elderly

    The Brooke Astor Case

    Outside Resources

    United States Department of Justice Elder Justice Website

    A resource for victims of elder abuse and financial exploitation and their families; practitioners who serve them; law enforcement agencies and prosecutors; and researchers seeking to understand and address this silent epidemic plaguing our nation's elders. The Elder Justice Website serves as a forum to share information and resources so that, as a nation working together, we can fight elder abuse and financial exploitation and support our older citizens.

    Reprint Requests

    All ABA content is copyrighted and may be reprinted and/or reproduced by permission only. In some cases, a fee may be charged. To protect the integrity of our authors’ work, we require that articles be reprinted unedited in their entirety. To request permission to reprint or reproduce any ABA content, go to the online reprint/reproduction request form.