Astor Case Sheds Light on Hidden Problem (NY USA)

Elder abuse has its trial

Advocates for elderly say Astor case sheds light on hidden problem

by amy zimmer / metro new york

FEB 4, 2009

 Advocates for the elderly are closely watching the court case over philanthropist Brooke Astor’s estate set to open tomorrow

 Astor’s son Anthony Marshall and his lawyer, Francis Morrissey, begin trial for allegedly trying to plunder her $200 million estate while she suffered from dementia. Expected to expose rifts within the iconic New York family, others hope the case will shed light on the little-known problem of elder abuse.

 

The case provides “an opportunity to say who is the face of the elder abuse,” noted Joy Solomon, director of the Weinberg Center, an elder abuse shelter in the Bronx. “Often it’s not someone walking into a police station with a black eye. Sometimes it’s after the bruise is gone. Sometimes it’s financial abuse.”

 

Astor grew increasingly paranoid of men in suits as pressure mounted to sign over her wealth, staff recorded in journals, the New York Post reported. She was 105 when she died in 2007.

The U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging estimates 5 million seniors may be victimized a year.

 

Solomon recently saw a son who stole his mother’s prosthetic leg and several cases of family and caretakers stealing dentures.

“Older women are ashamed to go out without their teeth,” she said. “It’s about exerting control over someone’s life.”

SOURCE:   NY Metro

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