Elder Abuse Revisited: Only One Percent

Elder abuse is a heinous crime which we feel a need to continuously make our readers aware of, and the resources available to combat it. For our earlier post on this topic, click here.

Today's post focuses on an article from the Anderson Valley Post which reported an increase in elder abuse due in part to strains in the economy.

When Connie Matajcich, 73, of Anderson, California was recovering from a stroke, her caretakers convinced her to take on a reverse mortgage. (The full story can be found here). She alleges that the profits from that mortgage were taken from her.

Even more shocking, her caretakers were not strangers, but her daughter and son-in-law.

Ms. Matajcich did not want to contact the authorities, and intitally she felt bad for doing so. However, she found help through the local chapter of Adult Protective Services. The agency connected her with a case worker who put her in touch with social services she needed and encouraged her to report the case to authorities.

According to Jim Livingston of the Adult Protective Services of Shasta County,

Only one in a hundred elder abuse cases are ever reported.

There are services those facing instances of elder abuse, and no one should remain silent due to embaressment or humiliation. Elder abuse is a crime. Social service agencies all over California work daily to prevent abuse and provide assistance to those who have suffered from it.

For more information, visit the National Adult Protective Services Association.

Unbundled Legal Services

As this article from the New York Times points out, defending yourself in court without a lawyer can be very challenging.

Courthouse workers also say that people are representing themselves in more complicated cases, involving divisions of complex assets, home foreclosures, houses worth less than a mortgage balance and combinations of these and other problems. Such cases in the past were more likely to involve a lawyer.

These are tough times for many Americans, whether they are facing foreclosure, bankruptcy, divorce, and many other adversarial legal issue. It's no surprise that due to the economy, many folks are deciding to go without legal representation.

I'm not going to rattle on about how and why going alone to court without a lawyer is a bad idea. In some cases, it's perfectly fine to fly solo, and people need to do what they need to in these difficult times.

One thing many attorneys have started to do is to offer what is known as unbundled legal services. This occurs where the client and the attorney work together to define the scope of the representation. Typically, the client pays a reduced rate and the attorney does a fraction of the usual representation for a certain legal issue.

For example, in a divorce case, the attorney may provide the client with the pre-filed forms and/or required documents which the client needs to go to court and represent herself or himself. The attorney will limit the scope of his or her representation to a set area, which may include advice, document review, or negotiation, in addition to document preparation.

Unbundled legal services are the future for certain law practice areas. It provides competent legal advice to clients who don't need (or want) full legal representation. It also reaches a group of people that are typically ignored by lawyers: regular middle class folks.

Let's face it: the typical lawyer wants to work with those whom he or she can charge the highest hourly rate.

With unbundled legal services, the client gets the assistance they need at a reasonable rate, and the lawyer does not partake in full representation, which can be very time-intensive.

Green Street is pleased to offer unbundled legal representation for those requesting it. We will also suggest it to clients who we think it may be an appropriate for. Go unbundled!

All the Same Mice to Cheese

At Green Street, we actually like mice. But, in the profession of estate planning, it seems there are more and more attorneys acting like mice. These mouse-like attorneys keep running at one very small piece of cheese. That metaphorical small piece of cheese is comprised of the super-wealthy who may be affected by estate taxes.

Who are these people? They are a tiny group that could die in 2009 with more than 3.5 MILLION dollars in assets (for more information about estate tax details, you can find it on Nolo.com by clicking here). Needless to say, more than 98% of Americans won't have to worry about the federal estate tax.

At a time when law firms are reporting record layoffs, Law.com reported today that estate planning departments are actually growing in large law firms. For the full article, click here.

It dawned on me once I started reading, these firms are the mice going for that tiny piece of cheese:

The practice is competitive with other Pillsbury groups in terms of rates -- partners bill $650 and up -- as well as billable hours and realization....

But of course! They're trying to hit up the less than two percent of the population who needs that type of complicated estate planning. Good grief.

If you have your life's work built up in your home, retirement accounts, pensions and other assets, you can get a great estate plan from many attorneys for 3-5K. At Green Street, we provide full-service estate planning for a flat fee with no hourly billing. We can help you avoid probate. All of your documents are presented to you in a binder which is expertly organized. For more information, check out the Estate & Probate section on our website.

We have our blinders on, deliberately ignoring the herd of lawyers who swarm to the elite. We like working with real people, who work hard and want to protect their family and their money. Why is that? Because the other 98% of you deserve a professional, friendly, and quality service without sweating that hourly rate.

Take 2: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

That's a cute baby. Grandma is cute too!

Most grandparents love to spend time with their grandchildren, but also look forward to returning the little munchkin(s) back to their parents at the end of the day.

For more and more families, however, grandparents are taking on the primary responsibility of raising their grandchildren. An article in the Great Falls Tribune in Montana highlights the story of several grandparents raising their grandchildren. The story can be found here.

The reasons grandparents become the primary caregiver to their grandchildren are many. Typically, it becomes necessary when the parent is unable to provide for the grandchild due to illness, drug abuse, or problems with the law. In most states, grandparents can become the legal guardian or receive custody rights if the child's parents are unwilling or unable to care for them. Adoption may also be an option for grandparents and parents to consider.

A guardianship may become necessary so that the grandparent can supervise where the grandchild lives, be certain they are enrolled in school, and make medical decisions for the grandchild. If the parent(s) of the child determine it's best to relinquish all of their parental rights, grandparents may be able to adopt their grandchildren.

An issue often not addressed is the health and well-being of the grandparent. Most of the time the focus is on what is best for the child, but grandparents need to consider their health as well. For example, grandparents often worry about who will take care of the child if they became seriously ill or disabled. Having a proper estate plan to provide for the grandchild can be very important for these folks.

Finally, if a grandchild has a disability, it may be necessary to set up a Special Needs Trust so that the grandchild can continue to receive federal and state benefits such as Social Security Income (SSI) and Medi-Cal. This type of trust will also allow trust monies to supplement the disabled child's benefits without interfering with public benefits.

To learn more, and for additional resources, please visit Grandparents Raising Grandchildren--Realizing You're Not Alone.

Update: there is a great article about the health and work challenges Grandparents raising Grandchildren are facing during this recession. From the New York Times, it can be found by clicking here.

A Broad Spectrum: Elder Abuse

The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware recently reported a training session held by the Office of the Attorney General to train to people in myriad fields to detect and prevent elder abuse. In the article, found here, the trainees where instructed in two critical areas:

First we wanted to train everyone in law enforcement to recognize elderly abuse. Second there was public awareness to the types of abuses: physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and financial exploitation," White said. [emphasis added]

I emphasize the words recognize and public awareness because they are two of the most critical things which prevent reporting of elder abuse. Elder abuse comes in many forms and is hard to detect. It's not limited to physical abuse--it covers financial abuse, neglect, and psychological abuse, among others.

Only 25 years ago, domestic violence between spouses and between parents and children was highly under-reported. Through public awareness campaigns, stricter laws and enforcement, and better social services to assist battered women and children, domestic violence has been exposed and services to victims have improved. Elder abuse is now coming to the forefront as an area which needs dramatic increase in resources and public awareness.

As our society ages, and the elderly become more dependent physically, mentally, and financially, they become an easy target for all types of deplorable acts. The elderly often have immense wealth from home appreciation and savings, but they often live alone and are isolated. Those with disabilities may be dependent on "home health aides"or neighbors who over time become acquainted with the financial assets of the elderly person. Unfortunately, due to age and/or disability, the elderly frequently fail to take action against the abuser(s) due to their embarrassment or disability.

The National Committee on the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA) is an excellent resource to learn more about elder abuse. This website outlines the many types of elder abuse, the indicators for each type of abuse, and also directs readers to other avenue of assistance.

End of Life Choices

I was on the road tonight and lucky to be able to listen to one of my favorite shows on NPR: Fresh Air with Terri Gross. The interview was with Dr. Robert Martensen, an ER doctor who recently published a book called A Life Worth Living. In his book,

Martensen presents case studies that illustrate the problems and complexities of American health care system, and argues that safeguarding the quality of a patient's life sometimes trumps the urge to sustain life at all cost.

The full interview with Terri Gross can be heard by clicking here.

One of the most poignant parts of the interview was when Dr. Martensen discussed his father's death. Because his father had signed an advance health care directive indicating he did not want to be put on a ventilator, Dr. Martensen was able to support his father's wishes in his final days. By indicating his desires through the appropriate forms, he was able to end his life the way he wanted, without a ventilator and recieving pain medication which would not inhibit his lucidity.

These are tough decisions for families and individuals to make, and Dr. Martensen's interview informs and empowers us to consider the type of care we want at the end of our lives. Often these choices are never considered--we are embaressed, unsure of what we want, or do not want to think about it.

All of these emotions are understandable, but our lack of decisivness causes considerable anguish for children and family members who are left to decide, not knowing if the decisions they make are what their parent or relative would have wanted.

The California Office of the Attorney General has a great website which explains what an Advance Health Care Directive is, why it is important, and other resources which may help individauls and families consider their options. To learn more, click here.

Tough Times for Commercial Real Estate Owners

With the news primarily focusing on residential real estate and home foreclosures, commercial real estate has taken a back burner. But take a look around your town and you'll notice myriad "For Lease" signs on all kinds of commercial real estate, from the smallest strip mall to enormous sky scrapers. Even on the most populous streets and swanky avenues in Pasadena there are many empty storefronts and with huge banners proclaiming available space for lease.

This article on PR Web predicts a serious crisis for owners of commercial real estate, in which "none of the experts agreed to point on a recovery timeline." Only a few years ago, if a commercial tenant broke their lease, the landlord would be irritated, but there was likely another tenant eager to move in. Not so any more. Now, when a tenat leaves, the commercial landlord may want to hold the tenant accountable for breach of the lease and sue for damages.

Unfortunately, times are tough for the tenants as well. This is why mediation may provide a more amicable outcome for both parties. Most of the time, it will be much less expensive than going through litigation. If both sides are willing to mediate, often a resolution can be reached relatively quickly. In these challenging times, it may be beneficial for the commercial landlord to consider working with an attorney who can represent their interests in mediation.