Centre for Policy on Ageing



Six-year longitudinal study of finances of elderly wards under guardianship
Author(s)	George H Zimny, Judith A Diamond, Marlene M Mau
Journal title	Journal of Ethics, Law and Aging, vol 3, no 2, Fall/Winter 1997
Pages	pp 91-101
Keywords	Mental disorder ; Court of protection ; Assets [elderly] ; Death ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	Courts are responsible for protecting the financial assets of wards (persons adjudicated as personally and financially incapacitated), but little is known about the gain and losses of assets over time or about how long wards live. To help identify the nature and extent of the courts' responsibility, the finances of 73 older wards in Missouri were studied over a 6-year period using the annual financial accounts in public court records. The wards began guardianship with over 13 million dollars in assets, ranging from 0 to 1.5 million dollars. After 3 years, 33 wards were alive, and after 6 years, 18 were alive. Over the 6-year period, guardians for 12 wards handled 1.8 million dollars in receipt and 1.9 million dollars in reimbursements. The findings underscore the necessity for state legislatures, courts and judges to take actions to protect the assets of older wards over time.
Accession Number	CPA-980120219 A
Classmark	E: JVC: JD: CW: 3J: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.