Elder Care Law Essay

All laws are created in an effort to insure equal treatment of the citizens of the land regardless of sex, ethnicity, race, and age. The general laws of the land are meant to protect the citizens who are powerless to protect themselves. The most critical of these protective laws belong to the laws that protect the children. But recently, it has been noted that there has been an increase in the aging population of the land. Currently, the elderly of the land stand at 14 percent, with the numbers increasing on a daily basis. You may think that the percentage of the existing elderly is small. But the truth is that most consumer fraud crimes, about 30 percent at least, is planned to take advantage of the retired and elderly who may have some extra disposable income on hand. The numbers are even more alarming when you consider the percentage by age bracket. Of these numbers, approximately 83 percent will end up in a nursing home and be at the mercy of strangers. They will also most likely outlive their financial resources and when this happens, the abuse cycle may begin for the unsuspecting elderly person. Admittedly, these elderly have gotten to a point in their lives wherein they either cannot protect themselves from the harm that others wish to cause them, or, the very people meant to care for them have lost their way and began to maltreat them. The percentage value of those elderly abused in nursing homes as of 2001 clocked in at approximately 9,000 abuse violations occurring in 5,283 nursing homes. This is the reality that some of the elderly of the land face and have to deal with either on their own or with loved ones in these modern times. Further research reveals that more than 40 percent of these violations will not be reported to the authorities by the elderly person but by well intentioned people who know them. This is the main reason why the Elder Care laws that have been created for this specific section of society must be implemented by well versed and specifically trained Elder Care lawyers. The elderly sometimes do not wish to cross their care givers and submit to the violation and abuse because they believe it is the only way to survive. There are unscrupulous people out there who target the elderly and what little pension they have. They use the loopholes of the legal system to take advantage of the elderly who do not understand too much about legalities or choose to not be bothered by legalities. Hence the unique legal situation that the elderly often find themselves in. The elderly need a lawyer who can give their special legal needs the proper time and attention to details that it requires. For example, laws governing guardianships, healthcare directives, and mental health decisions are not easily understood nor explained to the elderly and their family. It takes a lawyer with heart to explain the intricacies of the laws to the elderly and the family. That is the role of the Elder Care lawyer. To be heart and caring embodiment of the law that could seem cold and uncaring when handled by ordinary, cut and dried, by the book lawyer. I believe that an Elder Care lawyer must look at the elderly not as just a basic client but somebody who trusts him or her enough to cooperate with him in the legal planning of the rest of their lives. The elderly usually feel abandoned and vulnerable at their ages and will cling to anybody who shows the least bit of care for them. This makes them prone to all sorts of abuse and often feeling that they have nowhere to turn to get out of the situation. By having lawyers who specialize in Elder Care law, they will come to realize that they are not alone and there are legal remedies that can be had to prevent or end the current abusive situation they are in. For the family of the elderly, having an Elder Care lawyer to talk to regarding the current situation their parents helps them to act in the best interest of the relative, but within the confines of the laws that were created to protect the interests of the elderly from those who may want to abuse their rights and privileges simply based upon a kinship issue. An Elder Care lawyer can be there to guide them through the do’s and don’ts of the system in order to avoid any legal complications that may arise from their actions in the future. As the elderly of the land continue to grow in population, more and more laws will be enacted either on a state wide or national level. Keeping this in mind, we will come to realize that having lawyers who specialize in Elder Care law will come to be just as important as lawyers who specialize in inheritance or tax laws.