When one thinks of abuse, you envision one person physically hurting another, like we hear all too often in domestic violence situations. Unfortunately, abuse comes in many forms: physical, financial, medical and emotional and all too often, the signs of abuse are overlooked or ignored. In general, we also tend to think of those abused in terms of “groups” – young or middle-aged Americans – however it has been reported that older women (67 percent) are far more likely than men (32 percent) to be victims of abuse and a little more than half (53 percent) of the abusers are female. Elder abuse and neglect is a reality for far too many of our seniors today. It is our responsibility as a society to recognize the warning signs, to intervene and to help educate others about how to report and reduce the incidence of this crime.

On September 1, 2009, Powers of Attorney in New York State will change dramatically. Both the format and the execution of these documents are significantly different.

Remedies for an unreasonable refusal to accept a properly executed Power of Attorney are limited by the new law to a special proceeding to force the acceptance. Damages are no longer possible.

Many seniors have Powers of Attorney, but do you have the right one? This is a very important question because no one has the right to make financial decisions for you, unless you have legally appointed a person with the authority to act for you.The best way to give that legal authority is by executing a Comprehensive Durable Power of Attorney.

The problem: The will my husband and I drew up names our son as executor. Due to family circumstances, we would now like my husband’s brother to act as executor, not our son. Do we need to redo our will, or can we just sign an addendum with this change and have it notarized?

The expert: Frank L. Buquicchio, elder law and estate planning attorney, Vincent J. Russo & Associates.