Author: Scott Spallina, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
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The Mom Who Ran Out of Time
Having spent over 14 years handling elder issues, the one thing I have seen seniors do repeatedly is not plan for their passing because they think there will be time do it later. This naïve mindset causes so much frustration and anger that instead of leaving behind a legacy of love and fond memories, ill…
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Hiring Strangers as Caregivers
When Hiroko hired a healthcare agency to assist her in caring for her husband, she trusted that the company would provide her with caregivers who were responsible and professional. Unfortunately, this agency sent a “caregiver” who helped herself to Hiroko’s jewelry. This is only one of many cases of caregiver abuse handled by the Office…
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‘No Mom, I’m Not in Jail’
I recently received a telephone call from my mother. Given that I was in a meeting, I didn’t answer it, but instead let it go to voicemail. Almost immediately, the phone started buzzing again from her same number. Usually, my mom would just leave a message, so this second call was very unusual. I excused…
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Elder Abuse Reporting Deadlines
Recently, I received a call from a woman who wanted to report that her father had been the victim of theft. The culprit was her niece, who had taken over $100,000 over a three-year period. The caller had the evidence and her father now wanted to hold the niece accountable for what she had done.…
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The Trouble With Family Secrets
When there are secrets within a family, it has been my experience that no good has ever come from them. Now, I am not talking about secrets that a family might keep from non-family members, such as, grandma is a witch and Uncle Joe has 12 toes, but secrets family members keep from each other.
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Publishers Clearing House Scams
In the last couple of months, I have had two people come to my office because they were not millionaires yet. You see, they each had won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes (PCH) and had not received their monies yet.