'The Price of Living'

In South Carolina, the increase of people 65 and older is expected to exceed the national rate. By 2030, the state will have 1,134,000 such citizens.

This senior tsunami comes as no shock. Numerous studies and federal reports have warned for years that, as the baby boom ages, the number of elderly who are subjected to neglect, abuse and financial exploitation will surge. Despite the warnings, little has been accomplished in most states and nationally to remedy the failings of courts set up to protect the incapacitated elderly.

Just in September, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, released a study revealing that "there continue to be instances where some guardians have taken advantage of the elderly people they are supposed to protect." Lack of training and monitoring contribute to such failings, the report said.

The study said that similar warnings from the GAO in a 2004 report had resulted in only sporadic improvements in a few states. Lack of money remains one of the big problems for a court that's generally at the lower end of the feeding trough.

Jean Toal, Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, which oversees the courts, said she too is concerned with how the courts deal with the elderly in general and the fee issue in particular. She appointed a task force last year to evaluate the impact of the elderly on the courts and what the court needs to do to meet their needs. The state's Bar Association also is considering recommending revisions to the state's probate code.

Toal's task force recommended earlier this year that the Probate Courts use volunteers to check on vulnerable elderly persons and serve as guardians and conservators, a move that, if enacted, would dramatically cut fees billed to the estates of the elderly.

In high-risk situations, Charleston County's Probate Court usually relies on Family Services, a local nonprofit, to serve as conservator. The nonprofit charges a varying flat fee of 4 or 5 percent a year for most of the cases. The vast bulk involve estates of less than $50,000, ones that for-profit companies usually won't handle, or that consist of just month-to-month social security benefits.

Full Article and Source:
Special report: The Price of Living: How Can Courts Protect the Elderly?