Professor David Freedman draws attention to elder law issues

Photo by Aimee Burtch

Professor David Freedman delivers opening remarks at the workshop on power of attorney fraud in Macdonald Hall on February 24, 2010.

To help raise awareness of the growing legal issues involving senior citizens, Professor David Freedman organized a workshop on power of attorney fraud, co-sponsored by Queen’s Law and the Frontenac-Kingston Council on Aging. On February 24, 2010, approximately 30 lawyers, bankers and financial advisors gathered at Macdonald Hall, where they learned how to best handle suspected cases of misuse of a power of attorney.

 

“Powers of attorney are as important as wills,” says Mary-Alice Thompson, Law ‘92, a Kingston lawyer and former Queen’s Law sessional instructor who was one of the speakers for the workshop. “We have a ‘perfect storm’ of an aging population, growing rates of dementia or incapacity, and large amounts of wealth in the hands of our oldest citizens.”

“Solicitors have to be proactive in preventing opportunities for abuse,” she adds, “both by careful interviewing and drafting and by explicit advice to family or friends starting to act under powers of attorney.”

In addition to Freedman and Thompson, the workshop discussion was facilitated by Laurie Ioannou, a training and case management officer with the Ontario Public Guardian & Trustee, Sergeant Robin Sanders, a member of the Ontario Provincial Police’s Seniors Assistance Team, and Detective Constable Christina Wolf, a member of the Ottawa Police’s Elder Abuse Section.

As the life expectancy of Canadians continues to increase, and people become increasingly isolated in their later years, both through having fewer children and those children living longer distances from their parents than in the past, the legal and financial planning community will need to deal with the unfortunate opportunities for elder abuse that result from these societal changes.

Photo by Aimee Burtch

Legal and financial professionals at the workshop

The focus of the workshop was on understanding the issues, considering and developing protocols for action, and creating a network of interested professionals to better address the needs of Kingston-area seniors.

“I look forward to organizing similar events on elder law issues in the future,” Freedman says, “especially to train lawyers to work together with other professionals.”

Freedman has a long-standing interest in drawing attention to legal issues affecting older Canadians. In addition to this workshop, he writes a weekly column on elder law issues for the Kingston Whig-Standard, and taught one of the first courses in the area to be offered in Canada at Queen’s Law. He also recently joined the local firm Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP as an associate counsel, noting that elder law is a relatively new area of practice and it’s necessary to keep in touch with developments as they are occurring in the practice of law.

Freedman’s latest project is the new Clinical Program in Elder Law, commencing in September 2010. A major innovation for Queen’s Law, it will be the first elder law clinic sponsored by a Canada law school and will be staffed by Queen’s Law students.

Read Professor Freedman’s most recent articles on elder law issues published on the Kingston Whig-Standard website:

“The future of work: ageism, discrimination and older workers”

“Facebook and the older adult, an interesting combination"

“Should you expect payment for caring for elderly neighbour?"

“How a power of attorney and an ATM card are different”

“What seniors can learn from the teenagers in their lives"