This is the third in a series of articles discussing elder abuse. This article will focus on identifying those who are most likely to be the abusers...

When one sibling is an agent under an elderly parent's financial power of attorney (POA) and another sibling is an agent under the same elderly parent's medical POA, does probate law define the duty or relationship that must exist between the two? In this case, the agent under the medical POA is seeking medical care for their elderly parent but needs the agent under the financial POA to release assets to pay for that care.  What can be done if the agent under the financial POA refuses to release the assets to cover the cost? Is there an obligation to disclose financial or medical records if one agent requests it from the other?

If you create a trust, you will need a separate person or institution, called a "trustee," to manage the trust either now or in the future, depending on the type of trust.  

My boyfriend's grandmother is in a nursing facility in Colorado. My boyfriend lives in North Carolina. Due to this, his sister has power of attorney (POA) for his grandmother’s health care, and she is preventing the family, including my boyfriend, from obtaining any medical or other information from the caregiving facility. The sister has told the employees not to give out information to anyone but herself. Does she have the legal right to do this or is her legal right narrowed to just making the medical decisions regarding her grandmother's needs? Is there anything that my boyfriend can do so that the caregivers can keep him informed about his grandmother’s condition, both physical and mental? 

Although depression was initially given as the cause of actor Robin Williams’ suicide in 2014, his widow says autopsy results lay the blame on Lewy body dementia, a fairly common but hard-to-diagnose form of dementia. 

As a result of the recently passed Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Medicare Part B premiums will rise only about 15 percent for about 16 million beneficiaries, and the Part B deductible will rise a similar amount. 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is increasing the amount taxpayers can deduct from their 2016 taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance.

The federal budget agreement that President Obama signed into law November 2, 2015, contains changes to how spouses can claim Social Security benefits, ending two strategies previously used to maximize benefits.

The Veteran's Administration will soon begin enforcing new regulations that make it harder to qualify for Aid and Attendance benefits. 

Knowing the "cost basis" of your property is important for tax purposes, but proving cost basis can be difficult.

Are you happy with your Medicare coverage? It is time to review whether your plan or plans are working for you.