Tonight, Oct. 9, ABC 20/20 covered the trial of Anthony Marshall, 85, who was convicted this week in New York of embezzling millions from his mother Brooke Astor, who died of Alzheimer’s Disease at age 105 in 2007. But Astor had apparently been healthy to over age 100, and had spent an active life supporting charities. Her parents were presented in the movie “Titanic”.
Anthony may have been put up to this by his wife Charlene, who got greedy. There are a number of issues, as to whether he improperly influenced her will after she was impaired, whether he forged signatures, where he sold some of her assets and kept the money, and overpaid himself to manage her assets. Anthony’s son, who appears in the report, actually filed secretly and got guardianship of his grandmother.
The ABC report is “Brooke Astor Trial Verdict Latest in Long Family Drama: Before Trial and Fight Over Fortune, Brooke Astor Reigned Over New York City”, by Deborah Roberts and Joan Martelli, link URL here.
In caregiving situations of more “average” families, a potential issue is commingling of caregiver’s and the elder’s funds, in connection with powers of attorney, convervatorship, etc., as discussed by Cindy J. Ackerman, “Role Reversal: Caring for Aging Parents”, link here. A number of issues can occur: for example, does a diagnosis of mild dementia mean lack of capacity to make informed decisions? If the family caregiver is unpaid, could state filial responsibility laws in some cases require that the caregiver pay for care intended to give him relief?(I don't think New York State has such laws, but 28 states do.) The “social contract” issues rarely come up in public policy discussion, but may be more likely in the future because of changing demographics and the marked increase in Alzheimer’s. There is more about this on the “Bill retires” blog.
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