Topics: Elder Law - 5 results

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is awaiting word on its challenges to federal rules and industry practices that are placing widows and widowers at risk of foreclosure. In March of 2011, the AARP Legal Foundation filed suit on behalf of the surviving spouses of three homeowners against the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), alleging that policy changes enacted by that agency in late 2008 regarding reverse mortgages were pushing them into foreclosure. Reverse mortgages are …

Two lawsuits against Illinois nursing homes are shining a light on a national problem: abuse of residents unable to care for themselves. One in three nursing home residents, or more than 1 million Americans, have experienced some level of abuse. Staff are not the only ones to blame. Sometimes other residents can be the abusers. William Kahle, a 47-year-old mentally impaired man, was allegedly burned with a cigarette by another resident at Hillcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. His nursing home …

Imagine the scene: Your parent is beginning to succumb to old age. Maybe Mom is showing early signs of dementia. Or perhaps Dad has suffered a stroke and is recovering, but slowly. One day you learn your parent signed a power of attorney document naming your ne’er-do-well sibling as their attorney-in-fact…or, even worse, maybe they named as their agent someone who’s practically a stranger to you—a home health aide, a much younger neighbor, the volunteer who drives them to doctor’s …

This is the second in a series of estate planning articles from EZLaw™.  EZLaw™ makes it easy to create a Last Will & Testament, Power of Attorney, or Living Will document, with the guidance of an attorney at a very affordable cost. As we grow older, our estate-planning needs change. Many seniors may mistakenly think a last will and testament is all they need to satisfy their estate plans. But that’s often not the case. Today, let’s look at the five most …

Two recent Florida Supreme Court decisions have resulted in major gains for nursing home residents and their families. Both Shotts v. OP Winter Haven and Gessa v. Manor Care of Florida struck down a segment of nursing home arbitration clauses that put in place damage caps that fell below what is legally recoverable in state court. Legal experts say that the rulings may help deter nursing homes in other states from imposing similar damage caps on residents and their families. …