Elder Abuse

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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

• Elder Abuse and Neglect Screening Guidelines for Mediators  (Nov. 2020)
• State by State Definitions of Abuse (April 2020)
• Adult Protective Services Reporting Laws (Dec. 2019)
• Threshold Eligibility Requirements For Adult Protective Services
  (Dec. 2019)
  
• Citations to State Adult Protective Services Laws and Long Term Care Ombudsman Laws  (April 2020)
• Selected Issues in Power of Attorney Law (January 2020)
• Legal Issues Related to Elder Abuse: Guides for Law Enforcement - With funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Commission has produced three free publications: A Pocket Guide, Desk Guide and Desk Guide Template. Learn more and download  copies now by visiting the Guides homepage.

Laws Related to Elder Abuse

• Citations to State Adult Protective Services Laws and Long Term Care Ombudsman Laws  (April 2020)

Mandatory and Permissive Reporting Laws

• Adult Protective Services Reporting Laws 
   Chart (Dec. 2019)

Durable Power of Attorney Abuse

• Choosing an Agent for Your Power of Attorney (May 2020) Voice of  Experience, ABA Senior Lawyers Division  (Premium content for ABA members)
• Selected Issues in Power of Attorney Law (Jan. 2020)
  
• Power of Attorney Tip Sheet - Five Safeguards to Consider Adding to Any Power of Attorney for Finances

• Strengthening State Civil Laws on Elder Abuse -Video - Recorded at the 2016 National Aging and Law Conference's "Core Essentials of Elder Law Series." Recording and editing made possible by the United States Department of Justice – Elder Justice Initiatives.
  
• Power of Attorney Abuse: What States Can Do About It. AARP’s Public Policy Institute has produced a research report written by Lori A. Stiegel and Ellen M. Klem of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging. The report explores the problem of power of attorney abuse and how state legislatures can protect vulnerable adults. Among other things, the report compares the abuse-related provisions of the new Uniform Power of Attorney Act with provisions in state power of attorney laws. The report can be downloaded from AARP’s Web site.
• Durable Power of Attorney Abuse 
  A National Center on Elder Abuse Fact Sheet for Consumers (Jan. 2008)
• Durable Power of Attorney Abuse: It’s a Crime Too 
  A National Center on Elder Abuse Fact Sheet for Criminal Justice Professional (Jan. 2008)
  

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

• Elder Justice Act Becomes Law, But Victory Is Only Partial  
• The ABA position on the Act
• Statement of Joseph D. O'Connor, Chair, ABA Commission on Law and Aging, on behalf of the ABA, submitted to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the House Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on the Subject of the Elder Justice Act

Background Links

• Elder Justice Coalition
• National Center on Elder Abuse

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: A Replication Manual

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

• Find out more about the Commission's Guardianship Jurisdiction project.

Neglect

• Neglect of Older Persons: An Introduction to Legal Issues Related to Caregiver Duty and Liability

Threshold Eligibility Criteria

• Threshold Eligibility Requirements For Adult Protective Services
  

Types of Abuse

• State by State Definitions of Abuse (April 2020)
  

Undue Influence

• The Role of Undue Influence in Elder Abuse, PowerPoint from 2011 Webinar. 
• California Undue Influence Screening Tool - Developed based on California law, this tool provides a model for developing similar tools for criminal and civil assessment of undue influence.
• Undue Influence Context, Provisions, and Citations Chart
  

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.

• Executive Summary
• Final Technical Report

Banks Reporting Financial Abuse of the Elderly

• Bank Reporting Opinion Letter to the Honorable Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Senator for Michigan, July 3, 2002
• Can Bank Tellers Tell? Legal Issues Relating to Banks Reporting Financial Abuse of the Elderly (long version)
• Legal Issues Related to Bank Reporting of Suspected Elder Financial Abuse (short version)

The Brooke Astor Case

• The Brooke Astor Case: "An Appalling Set of Circumstances" Three-part interview with Alex Forger, an expert witness for the prosecution. Conducted by Lori Stiegel, Senior Attorney, ABA Commission on Law and Aging.

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.

Celebrating The Life of Lori Stiegel

On Tuesday September 29, 2020 colleagues, family and friends joined for a memorial celebration of the life of Lori Stiegel . A few family, friends, and colleagues shared their stories and  memories of Lori. The links to the program are below.  

Memorial Service Program Link

Video Recording of Memorial Service 

Opening Photo Prelude