Consider a scenario in which an elderly individual, let's say a well-known writer who published only one novel, a famous novel, had always relied on her sister, a lawyer, to take care of her legal needs. Only one novel! And, according to the writer's conspicuously stated intentions, only one novel would ever be published! Being frail, the writer eventually had to be placed in an assisted living facility. The sister continued to make sure that the writer's copyrights, trademarks, publishing agreements, licenses, and many financial affairs, were watched over with devotion, love, and professional integrity. Then the sister, being herself quite elderly, dies. The sister's law partner, now handling the writer's estate, comes across an early draft of the famous novel belonging to the writer, written ages ago but never published, and this law partner takes it to a publishing house and gets it published. The new novel has a different name and spins a different story, using the writer's famous novel as its inspiration; however, it clearly shows signs of revisions done by a different writer. Could this be a case of elder financial abuse? I have written extensively and spoken on elder financial abuse. For instance, I published an article on elder abuse, Elder Financial Abuse: Prevention and Remedies, in October 2013; and Elder Financial Abuse, in August 2012. Both articles are in our firm's website library HERE and archive HERE. I gave an Interview on Senior Web Radio about elder financial abuse, in December 2013, which I recommend. Read the article. Draw your own conclusions. Best regards, Jonathan |