2000 Articles

Aging delayed—aging denied? By Lee Beneze May 2000 This article is based on "Can Human Aging Be Postponed?," Scientific American, Vol. 281, No. 6 (December, 1999), pp. 106-111.

Baby boomers age and the effect on all of us By Edward J. Mitchell March 2000 Age Power:How the 21st Century Will be Ruled by the New Old by Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D. (Tarcher/Putnam, 1999 236 pp. $24.95) is not a law book as such nor does it give specific examples that we can use in our day-to-day practice.

Care hurts March 2000 A recent study of persons who provide unpaid care to older persons indicated that two-thirds of the persons studied suffered economic loss in lost promotions, pay raises and training opportunities.

Deceptive practices in prepaid funeral plans By Lee Beneze June 2000 On April 10, 2000, the Senate Select Committee on Aging held a hearing on financially deceptive and fraudulent practices in the prepaid funeral and burial industry.

Dogs, frogs, and chimpanzees: what elder law attorneys can learn from them By Michael H. Erde October 2000 My wife works for me a few days a week, and we can't leave our dog Ozzie home alone, so he becomes a legal beagle and he joins us at the law firm.

Elder abuse: A practitioner’s short guide By Marc R. Miller October 2000 Let us assume that during an office conference, a trip to a client's residence, or a visit to a client in a nursing home you observe some disturbing indications.

Grandparents raising grandchildren: the lawyer’s role By Daniel M. Moore, Jr. May 2000 Grandparents often say--not completely in jest--that the great thing about this role is that you can send grandchildren home at night.

Guardianship pamphlet published October 2000 The ISBA recently published a pamphlet "On Being A Guardian," the latest in its series of pamphlets for lawyers to distribute to their clients.

Health care fraud is everybody’s business By Lee Beneze May 2000 The Illinois Department on Aging is a participant, along with other state and federal agencies, in a federal initiative called "Operation Restore Trust."

Health care: The Office of the Attorney General and how it can be of assistance to you By Mardyth E. Pollard June 2000 Quality health care is an issue that affects all of us; and as we grow older, good health care becomes even more important in our daily lives.

Identifying and reporting health care fraud: part II By Lee Beneze June 2000 As noted in the first part of this article (See Elder Law, Vol. 5, no. 3, May 2000), the cost of health care fraud and abuse in this country--out of a trillion dollar expenditure for health care--may be as much as a quarter of a billion (not million!) dollars every day.

Illinois annual Elder Rights Conference planned By Lee Beneze May 2000 The 14th Annual Elder Rights Conference, organized by the Illinois Department on Aging, will be held in Chicago on August 2 and 3, 2000, at the Holiday Inn City Center.

Illinois Guardianship Association By Frederick D. Floreth October 2000 On July 17, the Illinois Guardianship Association celebrated its second anniversary.

The Illinois Guardianship Reform Project: an overview By Morris Fred October 2000 The Guardianship Reform Project, initiated by Equip for Equality with the support of The Chicago Community Trust, Polk Bros.

Judge Keshner dies; fostered creation of Elder Law Section By Lee Beneze March 2000 The Elder Law Section Council, at its meeting in Chicago on December 10, took special note of the passing of Judge Larry Keshner, on November 6, 1999.

“Let’s kill all the lawyers”? By Edward F. Stanula June 2000 I had to read through Macbeth and half of King Lear before I found Shakespeare's quotation on lawyers.

Medicaid planning for ill spouse By Steven C. Perlis March 2000 Often the practitioner is faced with a situation where an ill spouse has already been approved for Medicaid and the well spouse wants to know if any more estate planning is needed.

The need of homebuyers and sellers for independent counsel By Stanley B. Balbach June 2000 The profession has a duty to inform the members of the public as to when they have a problem deserving of the services of a lawyer.

New assisted living law to be implemented in 2001 By Lee Beneze June 2000 The Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act (Public Act 91-0656) was passed by the General Assembly in the 1999 spring session.

Newsletter contributions solicited October 2000 We are pleased to have so many members in the Elder Law Section. Remember, this is your newsletter.

Not an elder law self-help book June 2000 Seeing the title Fifty and Beyond: The Law You and Your Parents Need to Know, one might think that it's another legal self-help book, this time directed to older persons.

Notes from the chair By Lee Beneze October 2000 It is my great pleasure to welcome the readers of the Elder Law Newsletter to the pages of this newsletter.

Notes from the chair By Constance B. Renzi June 2000 As I sit down to write these notes, I can hardly believe that it is time to pass the baton to the newly appointed chairperson of the Elder Law Section Council, Lee Beneze, vice-chairperson William Cleaver, and secretary, Naomi Schuster.

Notes from the chair By Constance B. Renzi May 2000 As we enter the homestretch of the ISBA year, I am reminded of the roots of the Elder Law Section--the practice of elder law.

Notes from the chair By Constance B. Renzi March 2000 As I write these notes, I can hardly believe that the business year is more than half over.

Power to make organ donations added to health care power of attorney By John F. Erbes June 2000 The Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney for Health Care has been amended by P.A. 91-240, effective January 1, 2000 to allow individuals to make an anatomical gift part of their health care power of attorney and authorize the agent to effectuate the organ donation.

Public hearings on guardianship reform scheduled By Lee Beneze March 2000 Equip for Equality, the advocacy organization for disabled persons in the state, has created the Guardianship Reform Project, that is holding several hearings around the state.

Recent amendments to the Illinois Power of Attorney Act By James F. Dunneback October 2000 The General Assembly recently amended the Illinois Power of Attorney Act, 755 ILCS 45§2-1, et. seq.

Regulatory changes By Steven C. Perlis March 2000 It used to be that somebody going on Medicaid could buy an annuity, so long as it was a single payment, was irrevocable, and met the federal and state life expectancy table requirements.

Revised Illinois elder law practice handbook published October 2000 The 2000 edition of Advising Elderly Clients and Their Families has recently been published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IILCLE).