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    November 24, 2015

    Elder Abuse

    Featured Resources

    • Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation: Checklist for Lawyers 

    This "Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation: Checklist for Lawyers" 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

    • 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.

    • Power of Attorney Tip Sheet Five Safeguards to Consider Adding to Any Power of Attorney for Finances. Download for free.

    Banks Reporting Financial Abuse of the Elderly

    Durable Power of Attorney Abuse

    Undue Influence

    The Brooke Astor Case

    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.

    Legal Issues Related to Elder Abuse: Guides for Law Enforcement

    With funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Commission has produced three new free publications:


    Pocket Guide
    Provides brief explanations of:

    • legal concepts, documents, and tools that may be misused to commit elder abuse or used properly to remedy it, and
    • issues and actions that justice system professionals should consider if they suspect elder abuse has occurred.


    Desk Guide
    Provides more information about Pocket Guide topics, as well as:

    • tips for communicating with older individuals,
    • the differences between civil and criminal courts,
    • entities that may be involved with elder abuse victims or perpetrators, and
    • additional resources.


    Desk Guide Template
    Provides a template for state-specific adaptation of the Desk Guide.

    Learn more and download or order copies now by visiting the Guides homepage.

    Managing Someone Else's Money Guides

    Millions of Americans are managing money or property for a loved one who is unable to pay bills or make financial decisions. This can be very overwhelming. But, it’s also a great opportunity to help someone you care about, and protect them from scams and fraud. Here are four easy-to-understand booklets to help financial caregivers. Written by the Commission and published by the CFPB, the guides are for agents under powers of attorney, court-appointed guardians, trustees, and government fiduciaries (Social Security representative payees and VA fiduciaries).

    Elder Justice Act

    To read the bills and find information about their status in the legislative process and their co-sponsors:

    1. Visit the Library of Congress’ Web site, Congress.gov 
    2. Type the bill number (for the Elder Justice Act, H.R. 3590; for the Elder Abuse Victims Act, Senate – S. 1821; House – H.R. 448) or the words/phrases “Elder Justice Act” or "Elder Abuse Victims Act" into the “Search Bill Text” box on the THOMAS home page
    3. Below the "Search Bill Text" box indicate whether you want to search by bill number or word/phrase
    4. Click on the “Search” button to the right of the “Search Bill Text” box

    Background Links

    The Judicial System's Role in Cases Involving Elder Abuse

    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 – see below for more current and extensive statutory analysis) is provided section by section and may be downloaded at no cost.  

    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.

    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

    Annual Summaries of State Legislation Amending Adult Protective Services Laws

    State Legislation Amending Adult Protective Services Laws

    Laws Related to Elder Abuse

    Abuse Registries

    Access to Victims

    APS as Guardian

    Capacity to Consent

    Caregiver

    Confidentiality of Information and Records

    Criminal Background Checks

    Emergency or Involuntary Services to Victims

    Immunity for Good Faith Reporting

    Mandatory Reporting to Adult Protective Services

    Mandatory Training

    Multidisciplinary Teams

    Penalties for Failing to Report or Making False Reports of Elder Abuse

    Prohibitions of Retaliation Against Reporters of Suspected Elder Abuse

    Reporting and Referrals to Law Enforcement

    Threshold Eligibility Criteria

    Types of Abuse

    Undue Influence

    Financial Exploitation

    Program Background

    The 2014 Annual Meeting CLE Showcase program was the kick-off event of the Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation (EIFFE) Prevention Program — Legal which is a collaboration between the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, the Investor Protection Trust, Investor Protection Institute, the North American Securities Administrators Association, and state securities regulators’ offices and state bar associations.

    Survey

    Through this IPT/IPI and ABA collaboration, the Commission will develop a model CLE program on elder investment fraud and financial exploitation. To inform this effort, the Commission conducted a survey is to gain a better understanding about front-line legal professionals who deal with older victims of investment fraud and financial exploitation. A press release and the survey results are available.

    Want more information?

    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.

    Articles on Elder Abuse

     Additional archived articles on Elder Abuse available on request

    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.