ABA Journal

Law and Aging

14 ABA Journal Law and Aging articles.

Guardianship Bill of Rights for adults passes ABA House; ‘it is needed’

The ABA House of Delegates passed a resolution Monday urging all law and policymaking bodies to adopt the Guardianship Bill of Rights, which recognizes 21 rights for adults who have a guardian.

ABA supports several of the Biden administration’s proposed nursing home reforms

Nina Kohn, a professor at the Syracuse University College of Law, has long focused on the intersection of the law and the experiences of older adults, including those who need long-term care. In recent months, she has helped draw attention to three policies that closely align with nursing home reforms the Biden administration announced in February.

Coronavirus deaths in nursing homes and guardianship scandals prompt new elder law recommendations

The ABA House of Delegates approved a pair of resolutions Monday that focus on the needs of older Americans.

ABA pushes for a federal guardianship court improvement program

Karen Murphy Jensen, a senior judge with Maryland’s Caroline County Circuit Court, has spent the past five years working to reform guardianship court practices. “Judges are really embracing wanting to know more about guardianship cases as well as the alternatives to guardianship,” says Jensen, the chair of the Guardianship and Vulnerable Adults Work Group of the Maryland Judicial Council’s Domestic Law Committee.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, legal services providers find creative ways to serve older adults

Many legal services providers have worked in the past year to change how they reach and assist their clients, particularly those who are older and at higher risk for developing more severe cases of COVID-19. While some created or expanded their partnerships with community organizations, others moved their services online or outdoors.

Relax with our favorite long reads of 2020

Throughout the year, the ABA Journal publishes in-depth features on the business of the legal profession, developments in the law, lives that have been impacted by the justice system and the ways society influences—and is influenced by—the law. What follows are some of our favorite features from 2020.

How can aging judges know when it’s time to hang up the robe?

Lawyers, law professors and even members of the judiciary voice concerns that judges are serving too much time on the bench without ensuring their cognitive skills stay sharp. They have called for mandatory retirement and cognitive testing as well as a more consistent approach to addressing cognitive decline. But members of the legal community who have experience with neuroscience argue that the question of when a judge should step down is complex.

A flood of age discrimination lawsuits is expected from COVID-19 and the economic downturn

The novel coronavirus pandemic has raised unprecedented legal questions for U.S. employers and employees who are older than 40 or who have a medical disability. Labor and employment attorneys say they are receiving a flood of complaints and questions about layoffs, firings and recalls to the workplace.

ABA president urges Senate to support nursing homes in next COVID-19 stimulus bill

ABA President Judy Perry Martinez asked U.S. Senate leadership Monday to include S. 4182, the Emergency Support for Nursing Homes and Elder Justice Reform Act of 2020, in the next COVID-19 economic relief bill.

Lawyers address problems with estate-planning document signing during coronavirus crisis

Many lawyers across the country are now using online video meetings to help senior clients arrange their affairs. This has become increasingly vital as the CDC warns that individuals who are age 65 or older and have underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for developing more severe cases of COVID-19.

Advocacy organizations call for compassionate release of elderly, sick prisoners

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus has renewed the focus on conditions inside the nation’s jails and prisons, many of which are struggling to implement proper cleaning and social distancing practices and protect their prisoners and staff. Elderly and sick prisoners have moved to the forefront of the conversation.

5 red flags that a client might be a victim of elder abuse

The ABA Journal spoke with elder law attorneys about how to identify some red flags or signs of elder abuse when they’re meeting with clients and how to respond to them.

Why elder law is a growing, ‘anything-can-happen practice’

Financial exploitation is just one component of elder law. It’s a growing area of practice that includes not only advance medical directives, estate planning, guardianship, probate and will contests, but also real estate, tax, employment, special needs, discrimination, domestic violence and Medicaid issues.