Gov. Steve Beshear held a ceremonial bill signing ceremony for two measures aimed at better protecting elderly and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect or financial exploitation.Lawmakers and advocates surrounded Beshear as he signed the adult protection bills that he praised as “a step forward in safeguarding our seniors.”
Beshear said he was disappointed lawmakers failed to pass what was a priority for many of the advocates — a bill to create a registry of people found to have abused or neglected adults, similar to the state’s a child abuse registry. That bill passed the House but died in the Senate.
He and the advocates said they will continue to press for such a law. Meanwhile, they said the bills Beshear signed will provide important protections for adults who are vulnerable because of age or disability.
“This is truly a good day for those of us who work in the field of elder abuse and guardianship,’’ said Becky Smith of GuardiaCare, a nonprofit Louisville agency that helps elderly or disabled adults manage their finances.
House Bill 52, sponsored by Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, bars people convicted of abusing or neglecting vulnerable adults from managing the affairs of their victims by acting as a guardian or power of attorney. It also prohibits them from inheriting from their victims or serving as executor of their estates.Full Article and Source:
Governor Steve Beshear Signs 2 Bills to Protect Elderly
6 comments:
I wonder, thought, on HB 52, I can tell it's meant well and those convicted of real abuse shouldn't have PoA or guardianship, of course, but so many people are wrongfully accused --- what about them?
A registry is very much needed.
I'n not sure I agree with the bill to prevent the convicted from inheriting the estate. There's something left unsaid here.
If I leave everything to my son in my will and then he kills me, who gets the estate then? The state?
The article mentions Guardia-care. I know of several families who are battling them.
This is the problem. The perps get a hold of the legislators and the legislators don't know the difference.
Kentucky wants the elder people's money. That's why they made this law. Kentucky says the elder person has no right to chose her heir. This law is a violation of the elder person's Constitutional rights.
They say its to prevent elder abuse, but actually its to engage in it. Legalized stealing. Guardiacare deliberately hurts their elderly charges.
By the time family members see what's happening, its too late.
The problem of elder abuse is not different than the problem of child abuse with respect to guardianship, inside or outside the courts. The same principles apply and the same methods are employed to perform the deception of theft under the color of "care." By any standard of decency, such "custodial relationships" need monitoring and oversight just as children are "on loan" to potential adoptive parents for trial adoption.
Having been a victim under the KY Custodial protocols as a child, the same problems occur whether child, adult or elderly in the KY schemes. Abuse and exploitation is commonplace in KY as it may be in other states. Tolerance of the abuse, neglect, and exploitation in KY is second to none. The HB 52 slayer law legislation is way overdue but cannot change the attitude and practices that fuel the industry of such long standing practice.
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