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Aging In The United States: Rethinking Justice, Equality, And Identity Across The Lifespan, Nancy J. Knauer
Aging In The United States: Rethinking Justice, Equality, And Identity Across The Lifespan, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
Our current aging policies and procedures raise profound questions of individual liberty, autonomy, and equality. Guardianship regimes require the state to balance the interests of vulnerable adults with their right to self-determination. The proliferation of age-specific laws designed to protect elders may actually compromise the civil rights of older individuals by denying their autonomy based solely on their age. The regulation of intimacy in long-term care settings infringes on a core liberty interest essential to human dignity. This essay introduces a new body of work that specifically addresses the civil rights aspects of aging. In many ways, aging represents the …
Gay And Lesbian Elders: Estate Planning And End-Of-Life Decisionmaking, Nancy J. Knauer
Gay And Lesbian Elders: Estate Planning And End-Of-Life Decisionmaking, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
This Article addresses the three areas of core concern for gay and lesbian elders -- chosen family, financial insecurity, and anti-gay bias in the context of estate planning. The first section provides an overview of the current generation of gay and lesbian elders, including a summary of pre-Stonewall history and existing demographic information. The second section outlines the challenges associated with drafting an estate plan that favors chosen family over next of kin. The third section engages the topic of financial insecurity, discussing various benefits and government programs, such as social security and Medicaid planning. The fourth and final section …