Wednesday, September 03, 2008

"Elder Abuse" Websites Warn Personally

Publicity on the Internet is one of many reactions to alleged "elder abuse" in a family.

For relatives outraged or harmed by perceived elder abuse, the Internet now provides a free forum for stating personal experiences, and for advocating awareness & remedy in one's own style.


This was the apparent motivation for the website Steal An Estate
created in June, 2007 by Eric Clayton Baxter, of New Orleans, Louisiana.


I reviewed that website critically in my EE&F Law Blog "How To . . . Steal an Estate?" (06/21/07). Contrary to the subsequent response of its author, I understood his motivation and approach. I just disagreed with the tone of his presentation, which could do more harm than good if read by a person with bad intentions. That site has not been active since June, 2007, but is found still in Internet searches.

A reader of that website now seeks publicity for his own websites that chronicle his personal experience of perceived elder exploitation.

I recently received an email message from Gary Buchan, of Florida (gasman@gbso.net), promoting his two websites chronicling exploitation of parents from his viewpoint -- www.russellbuchan.com and www.fairnessforfamilies.com.
It is difficult for families to understand how far siblings will go to satisfy to their own personal pursuit of greed and animosity.

Many of the points listed in "How to steal an estate" were warnings signs of activity occurring in our own family. The Internet was not a readily available information source when our family situation began in 1994 and the effects are still lingering today.

You are welcomed to link to my sites and discuss the reality of our family’s situation in today’s world of elder and parental abuse.
Gary sent nearly identical email messages to other organizations promoting his websites. For example, see: "Elder Abuse by Family Members" posted on Our Alzheimer's (08/24/08), sponsored by HealthCentral.

I received another unsolicited email from Shelley Kuziak, a resident of Bloomsburg (Columbia County), PA promoting her website Stop Guardian Abuse.
According to that website, NASGA stands for "National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse", which appears to be active mainly through its blog.

I do not vouch for the information on these personal websites. You must evaluate for yourself what you read.

However, for more conventional, universal, institutionally-assembled information about elder abuse,
see the online resources posted by the Elder Law Clinic at Penn State - Dickinson Law School (Carlisle & State College, PA), which include: