ABA Strongly Supports State Enactment of the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA)

Our increasingly mobile society often creates complex jurisdictional issues in guardianship cases. Quandaries arise concerning which state should have jurisdiction, how to transfer a guardianship to another state, and whether a guardianship in one state will be recognized by another.  Guardianship cases that raise these issues may be cumbersome and may result in an expensive loss of time and resources for family members, courts, and lawyers.  Additionally, lack of clear rules of jurisdiction can foster “granny snatching” and other abusive actions. To address these challenging problems, the Uniform Law Commission developed the UAGPPJA to clarify jurisdiction and provide a procedural roadmap for addressing dilemmas where more than one state is involved.

The UAGPPJA cannot work as intended—providing jurisdictional uniformity and reducing conflict—unless all or most states adopt it.  Learn more about the UAGPPJA, what the ABA Commission is doing to support its enactment, and what other organizations endorse it, here.

Outcomes Assessment Report: ABA Commission Is a Highly Valued and Effective National Legal Resource Center for the Law and Aging Community

In the Spring of 2008, the ABA Commission contracted with a national consulting firm to conduct an outcomes-based assessment of its work under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging grant. Using an online survey and interviews with key stakeholders, results indicate overwhelmingly that the ABA Commission is a highly valued resource for the law and aging community. Read more about the assessment, including areas identified for growth, here.

The ABA strongly supports passage of the Elder Justice Act. Read a summary of the Elder Justice Act, the ABA position on the Act, and the statement of Joseph D. O'Connor, Chair, ABA Commission on Law and Aging, on behalf of the ABA, submitted to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the House Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House or Representatives on the Subject of the Elder Justice Act here.

The ABA Commission on Law and Aging and the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging are pleased to announce the 2008 Partnerships in Law and Aging Awards. See the list of organizations funded and a description of the projects here.

Check the Commission's Website in in December 2008 for the 2008-09 Request for Proposals.

ABA Adopts Voting Rights and Cognitive Impairment Policy Submitted by Commission on Law and Aging
The ABA House of Delegates adopted a voting rights and cognitive impairment policy submitted by the Commission on Law and Aging, at its annual meeting on August 13.

The policy is based upon the joint effort of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, the Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging, and the Capital Government Center on Law and Policy at the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. The groups hosted a working symposium of national experts in law and aging, medicine, long-term care, voting technology, and elections administration entitled Facilitating Voting As People Age: Implications of Cognitive Impairment, which convened in March 2007 at the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.

Read the full report and recommendation

Introduction to and Summary of the Voting Symposium, 38 McGeorge L. Rev. 843 (2007)

Recommendations of the Symposium Facilitating Voting As People Age: Implications of Cognitive Impairment

State Provisions Regarding Voting: Constitutions, Election Laws, and Guardianship Statutes

Assessment of Older Adults with Diminished Capacity: A Handbook for Psychologists

This handbook is designed for psychologists evaluating civil capacities of older adults. The specific goal of this handbook is to review psychological assessment of six civil capacities of particular importance to older adults, namely, medical consent capacity, sexual consent capacity, financial capacity, testamentary capacity, capacity to drive, and capacity to live independently. Relevant literature, suggestions for assessment tools, and case examples are provided throughout. $25. 146 pp. 2008. To order, e-mail the ABA Commission at abaaging@abanet.org, or order online at http://www.abanet.org/aging/publications/publicationslistorder.shtml#capacity.

No Longer on Their Own: Using Emeritus Attorney Pro Bono Programs to Meet Unmet Civil Legal Needs
This new brochure is designed to help states successfully recruit emeritus pro bono attorneys to provide critically needed legal services to vulnerable seniors and low- and moderate individuals who are now facing their legal problems on their own. PDFs and limited print copies are available for free from the ABA Commission. E-mail your request to the ABA Commission at abaaging@abanet.org. View the PDF version of the brochure here.

See a list of states and jurisdictions that have enacted emeritus pro bono rules, the year the rules were applied, and contact information for a person responsible for overseeing the implementation of the rule here.

Guardianship After 25 Years: In the Best Interest of Incapacitated People? Authored by Pamela Teaster, Erica Wood, Winsor Schmidt, and Susan Lawrence, the report includes extensive site visit studies of seven programs; an update on state models of public guardianship or guardianship of last resort; conclusions and recommendations, a model public guardianship act; statutory and programmatic profiles of each state's system of public guardianship or guardianship of last resort; and statutory charts. For more information, or to order print copies of the executive summary for $5 and the full report for $30, contact the ABA Commission at abaaging@abanet.org. View the Executive Summary here.

Guarding the Guardians: Promising Practices for Court Monitoring By Naomi Karp and Erica Wood. This report describes methods for helping courts protect some of our society's most vulnerable people. Through site visits to exemplary courts, the authors have identified promising approaches that can be replicated by courts around the country. 91 pp. December 2007. View and download the full report from the Web page of the AARP Public Policy Institute at: http://www.aarp.org/research/legal/guardianships/
2007_21_guardians.html.

Volunteer Guardianship Monitoring Programs: A Win-Win Solution By Ellen M. Klem. This report is a study of volunteer guardianship monitoring projects initiated by AARP in 1990. PDFs and limited print copies are available for free from the ABA Commission. E-mail your request to the ABA Commission at abaaging@abanet.org. View the PDF version of the report here.

See all the publications from the ABA Commission on Law and Aging

Search complete catalog of publications