Increasing Elder Abuse Calls for Legislative Action

Jane A. Black (J.D. Candidate 2008, St. John’s University School of Law) has recently published her Note entitled The Not-So-Golden Years: Power of Attorney, Elder Abuse, and Why Our Laws Are Failing a Vulnerable Population, 82 St. John’s L. Rev. 289 (2008).

Here is the conclusion to her Note:

While the allegations of financial abuse and neglect involving Astor may never be proven, the Park Avenue socialite’s story brings to the forefront one of the gravest legal issues affecting the elderly in the twenty-first century. The selection of who will hold one’s power of attorney is, undoubtedly, one of the most significant decisions an older individual will make. Depending on the type of power granted, such an individual has the ability to thwart the elderly’s desired disposition of money after death, or worse, infuse fear, helplessness, and deceit into the final years of an elderly person’s life.

Without immediate action by lawmakers though, there is no indication that financial exploitation of the elderly will subside. Abuse is certain to swell as longevity increases, technology improves, and the lines of communication become easier to cross. As evidenced from the cases and statistics above, the day has passed where the American legal system can fail to recognize elder abuse as a widespread attack on the most vulnerable members of our population. To combat these abuses, federal and state legislatures need to enact uniform laws and sanctioning mechanisms to create a legal system with a hard stance against abuse of the elderly.