Pa. high court panel to review means of preventing abuse of elders

    Citing the state’s older population, Pennsylvania’s high court has created a task force to study elder abuse and how the courts can prevent it and respond to it.Supreme Court Justice Debra Todd will chair the 38-member panel.

    When a problem arises between older people and their legal guardians or financial advisers, the matters often end up in court, she said.

    “So it behooves us all to make sure that Pennsylvania courts, Pennsylvania judges, clerks of the orphan courts, et cetera, are aware of the problems and are employing best practices in how to deal with them,” Todd said.

    But that’s not the only reason this effort is being spearheaded by the Supreme Court.

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    Todd said because the court supervises the entire judicial system, it will be looking for best practices to apply to all of its courts.

    The group may also make recommendations to the Legislature for potential changes to state law.

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