Elder Law

Quirky Neb. Judge’s Contested Will Benefits Humane Society

A longtime Nebraska judge is maintaining his characteristic quirky influence from beyond the grave, as his will serves as the focal point not only for a legal battle between his heirs and a local animal rights group but fond remembrances of the impact of his work on the Lincoln County…

Dec 17, 2008 11:54 PM CST

Man With Dementia, 91, Can Stand Trial, Judge Finds

Although Joe Conway Elder has dementia and some delusions, the 91-year-old is competent to stand trial in a second-degree murder case for allegedly shooting to death a staffer at the adult care home at which he was living, a judge in Pierce County, Wash., decided today. In a written ruling,…

Dec 11, 2008 8:49 PM CST

Exploitation or Love? Son Seeks Divorce for Dad, 87

Although Claude Thomas and Susana Martinez Ramirez married in 2001, it wasn’t until several years afterward that his children realized their father had a wife. Even when Keith Thomas built two homes—one for his dad and one for himself—next to the shop where they worked together, selling hydraulics components, he…

Nov 17, 2008 7:18 PM CST

State Courts Face Budget Ax as Elder Law Cases Grow

Budget shortages are hitting 34 state court systems, according to a report by the National Center for State Courts. Thomas Clarke, vice president of research and technology for the NCSC, told the National Law Journal that courts may find it more difficult to trim costs in the latest economic downturn.…

Nov 6, 2008 7:12 PM CST

‘Til Death Do Us Pay?

As retired boomers head to the golf course, courts look at limits on alimony

Sep 1, 2008 1:05 PM CDT

Hearst Heir’s Malpractice Suit: Lawyer Helped Wife Steal $20M

A New York appeals court has reinstated a $20 million malpractice and fraud suit brought by a grandson of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst against the grandson’s wife and the couple’s lawyer. After he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1989 at age 55, John Randolph Hearst Jr. contends, his wife,…

May 2, 2008 10:49 PM CDT

Worth Mag. Lists Top Lawyers for the Wealthy

CORRECTED: A magazine for the well-to-do is coming out with its annual list of the top 100 lawyers for the well-to-do. Texas lawyer John Bergner announced in a press release this week that he’s been named in the list again, along with two other lawyers from Texas. Lawyers from Schiff…

Nov 20, 2007 5:54 PM CST

Death Detective Extraordinaire Aids South Florida Researchers

Those who need details about a little-known death long ago in or around Miami, Florida, may be some of the luckiest information-seekers in the country. A local volunteer has compiled an extraordinary 4,000-page record of virtually all deaths listed in the local newspapers for more than a century. And, as…

Nov 12, 2007 6:25 PM CST

Rest Easy: Plan for the Inevitable

Although lots of folks say they intend to plan for the inevitable, most don’t. Some 70 percent of Americans die without making a will or any other arrangement for distributing assets after their deaths—although, in some cases, that makes sense, reports the Los Angeles Times in a detailed article discussing…

Oct 29, 2007 3:28 PM CDT

Did Power of Attorney OK $180K Gift?

A power of attorney authorized its holder to give herself $180,000, a defense attorney contended yesterday in a fraud trial over money allegedly stolen from an elderly woman. Because a clause in the document authorized Cheri Drick to spend money on gifts, including gifts to herself, it was legal for…

Sep 13, 2007 10:43 PM CDT

Aging Nazi Victims Seek Home-Care Funds from Germany

Although World War II ended more 60 years ago, the horrors of the Nazi era are still alive in the minds of many Jewish survivors and others who were targets of Third Reich. As they aged, traumatic experiences they successfully suppressed for decades have come back to haunt them. Some…

Aug 23, 2007 3:41 PM CDT

Trial in 35 Katrina Nursing Home Deaths

Jury selection began today in the trial of two owners of a Louisiana nursing home where 35 patients died during Hurricane Katrina, allegedly because they defied a mandatory order to evacuate before the storm surge hit on Aug. 29, 2005. After levees ruptured, a flood inundated St. Rita’s nursing home…

Aug 14, 2007 12:19 AM CDT

80-Plus = Too Old to Raise Grandchild?

A Philadelphia couple, aged 85 and 89, have at least temporarily lost custody of their 5-year-old grandson, whom they had cared for since his birth, apparently because a family court judge considered them too old to handle the hyperactive boy. Although the city’s Department of Human Services recommended that the…

Jul 13, 2007 7:58 PM CDT