St. John's Law Review Volume 82 Number 1 Volume 82, Winter 2008, Number 1 Article 7 The Not-so-Golden Years: Power of Attorney, Elder Abuse, and Why Our Laws Are Failing a Vulnerable Population Jane A. Black Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in St. John's Law Review by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. NOTES THE NOT-SO-GOLDEN YEARS: POWER OF ATTORNEY, ELDER ABUSE, AND WHY OUR LAWS ARE FAILING A VULNERABLE POPULATION JANE A. BLACKt Note to Retirees: Beware the Family' INTRODUCTION Abuse of the elderly is an escalating problem, due in part to the rising number of elderly people. 2 Like child abuse, exploitation of the elderly is difficult to identify and prosecute. 3 As a demographic, the elderly share characteristics that make them particularly susceptible to abuse.4 The elder population, for example, is largely plagued by impaired hearing and vision, "slowed motor and mental responses, decreased coordination," t J.D. Candidate, 2008, St. John's University School of Law; B.A., 2004, The George Washington University. This Note is written in loving memory of my great uncle, Jacob Bookstein. 1 Jeff D. Opdyke, Intimate Betrayal: When the Elderly Are Robbed by Their Family Members, WALL ST. J., Aug. 30, 2006, at D1. 2 See Boyce v.