Elder abuse comes in many different forms – physical abuse, emotional abuse, or financial abuse. Each one is devastating in its own right. Many times, sadly, as with my situation, the elder abuse involves a family member. When that happens, you feel scared, disappointed, angry, and you can’t believe this is happening to you. You feel overwhelmed. The strength you need to fight it is complicated. You’re afraid, but you’re also thinking about your other family members. You’re thinking about the potential criticism of your family and friends. They may not want to accept the dysfunction that you need to share. Because you love your family and for other reasons, you might feel hesitant to come forward. You might not be able to make rational decisions. What other people see as generosity may, in reality, be the exploitation, manipulation,and sadly, emotional blackmail of older, more vulnerable members of the American public.

Often times, the abuser is not a stranger but is rather someone known to the victim, usually by blood. In Mr. Rooney’s case, the alleged perpetrator was Mr. Rooney’s own stepson. Mr. Rooney eventually took out a restraining order against him after verbal and physical abuse, which included taking his identification cards and denying him food and medicine. Only one in seven elders abuse cases are reported, although the numbers of the abused are likely to grow as the population ages.

​During the reign of George W. Bush estate laws were enacted that kept estate transfers worth $3.5 million or less exempt from estate taxation completely. These exemption limits were set to expire in 2011. If this expiration had been allowed to occur, wealthy beneficiaries all over the United States would have been hit by a huge tax burden. The pre George W. Bush estate tax levels were 55% for estates worth $1 million to $10 million and 60% on transfers of estates worth over $10 million. Had congress been unable to agree on a new estate tax law these high estate tax levels would have been reinstated. While it may seem that this only impacts the most wealthy of us, it is actually very easy for an estate to amount to $1 million when all assets are taken into account. Many people would easily reach this amount when real property value, 401K, life insurance policies and the like were accounted for. However, congress and Obama were able to work out a deal just in time. The current law states that estate transfers of $5 million or less for individuals and $10 million for couples will be exempt from all estate taxes. As of 2011, any estate transfers over the allotted $5 million for an individual and $10 million for couples would be taxed at most at 35%. This current agreement is applicable to both estate transfers and gifts, but will expire at the end of 2012. Only time will tell what new tax laws will be agreed upon for 2013.

​What does all of this information mean to you? It means it is time to see your attorney to update your will or trust. Furthermore, if you do not have a will or trust already in place now would be the perfect time to set one up under the current laws. After all the last thing that anyone wants to leave their loved ones is a higher tax burden.

- Authored by Marissa Sirota

In 2004, Michael Jackson sued Mr. Vaccaro and his company, “Vintage Pop,” for copyright infringement, cybersquatting and violation of his privacy rights. However, after the pop singer’s acquittal on child molestation charges Jackson refused a deposition and stopped paying his attorneys. This apparent abandonment of the lawsuit against Vintage Pop led the district court judge overseeing the case to dismiss the claim “with prejudice.” This ruling may mean that no one in the Jackson estate can ever sue “Vintage Pop” for copyright infringement or any of the other causes of action set forth in that 2004 complaint initiated by Michael. It turns out that this ruling became very profitable to one Howard Mann.

Howard Mann bought the memorabilia collection and “Vintage Pop” from Mr. Vaccaro as an investment opportunity just after Michael passed away. Howard Mann claims that since he now owns Vintage Pop and the Jackson memorabilia collection that he can do with it as he pleases without interference from the Jackson estate. He claims this immunity due to the previous court holding that dismissed the 2004 suit against Vintage Pop “with prejudice.” Mann claims that this ruling shields his collection and any use of that collection from any intellectual property claims made by the Jackson estate. Loyola Law School professor Georgene Vairo seems to agree with Mann’s claim from a civil procedure prospective. Professor Vairo asserts that by Michael abandoning the 2004 case he has already had “his bite at the apple” and has essentially “forfeited his intellectual property” that Mann now owns.

Just a few months after the singer died, Howard Mann approached Katherine Jackson (Michael’s mother) with a business opportunity. Since Mann owns the collection and since Katherine does not feel that she gets enough monthly money from the Jackson estate, Mann made her an offer that she apparently could not refuse. He offered to collaborate with her in selling the collection items such as photographs, family videos, etc. in a multitude of ways. The current venture seems to be a book of photographs that Katherine Jackson co-authored that even Oprah helped to promote. The book is comprised of photographs of Michael which are all a part of the memorabilia collection that Mann still owns.

Estate attorneys for the Jackson family have yet to make any legal move to interfere with Katherine Jackson and Mann’s pursuit to sell the intellectual property for profit. However, the estate’s attorney Howard Weitzman has said that the estate will be taking “appropriate legal action.” Mann’s claim to immunity has yet to be tested in court which means the final verdict on his ability to use the memorabilia collection as he sees fit remains to be seen. The Jackson estate thus far seems hesitant to speak up against Katherine Jackson because she is the guardian of the belated singer’s three children and highly adored by his fans.

- Authored by Marissa Sirota

If you do not make your choice and formalize it via a medical power of attorney (called an advance health care directive in California – see “What is a Living Will? California’s Advance Health Care Directive”), then the government will make the decision through a long and protracted process called a conservatorship. Conservatorships are not fair to your friends and family because of the prohibitive cost and publicity that is attendant to them, and those same people will be placed in the position of having to guess what you would have wanted should you have made your wishes known. Furthermore, you may rebel at the very notion of a conservatorship and may have to hire a lawyer to defend you during the process.

On the other hand, an advance health care directive will only manage personal care decisions for you –leaving perhaps the most important choices regarding your money to your agent through a financial power of attorney. The issue can occur like this: you are involved in an accident and are hospitalized for a month, unable to make decisions on your behalf. Your mortgage or rent becomes due and you have no one authorized to pay it on your behalf. Now you become entangled in a messy legal scenario in which someone must first petition the government on your behalf – usually through an ex parte temporary conservatorship legal procedure – to pay your bills to avoid foreclosure or eviction. All of that is unneeded if you have someone selected as your financial power of attorney. If drafted the right way, that power of attorney will only become effective should you become incapacitated (called a “springing” power of attorney  – see “What is a Springing Power of Attorney?“). To learn more about who to select and other matters on this topic, the article has a nice section under the section “Whom can you trust?”  My thanks to Professor Beyer for bringing this article to my attention.

“Family, money and death are a combustible combination,” said Toronto-based attorney Les Kotzer, who has co-authored a new book — “Where There’s an Inheritance ” — a compilation of 80 real-life vignettes taken from his law practice and radio show callers.

Having no estate plan is a recipe for disaster – your mother or father, wife, or child could end up in costly probate litigation if they do not have an advance health care directive and financial power of attorney in place. The government substitute is called a conservatorship (see What is a Conservatorship?) or guardianship (see What is a Guardianship?) . They are expensive to put in place and expensive to maintain.

But that is just one piece of the puzzle. You also have to make decisions about who should get what – and when they should get it. The Portland Press Herald has four tips  to keep things under control: let your family know what you want to do with your personal effects, name a good family member as trustee or executor, watch for pitfalls in how you allocate money in your estate, and think it through from the beginning.

Thanks to Joel A. Schoenmeyer for bringing this clip to my attention.