2006 Program
Mediation and the Elderly
As a person ages, a variety of difficult disputes are likely to arise. An elder person may have diminished mental capacity or physical ability; she may want to avoid family conflict; or she may be frightened or nervous about the subject of the dispute. Family members involved may carry emotional baggage that makes working with each other difficult. Finances may be a complicating factor.
Disputes may arise in connection with a legal guardianship for an elder person. Children may fight over who is the best person to act as guardian; child and parent may fight about whether a guardianship is needed at all; and family members may fight over whether moving an elder person makes sense. Professor Radford will talk about the use of mediation to resolve these issues, and Professor Mewhinney will describe experiences with a North Carolina statute enacted just a year ago to promote the use of mediation in guardianship proceedings.
Health care issues raise significant questions. As developments in medical technology enhance the ability to prolong life, patients, families and clinical care givers may find themselves taking different positions on the question of what is medically viable, financially responsible and ethically appropriate. How a “culture of life” should approach the inevitability of death poses conundrums that are producing ever more fractured responses. Consequently, philosophers, ethicists, law makers, and medical experts appear to have given up on the possibility of achieving substantive consensus, and have turned to mediation to navigate these dangerously divided shoals. Whether mediation is up to the task, and how mediators might go about “solving” these dilemmas will be among the topics addressed by Professors Liebman and Waldman.
An elder person making decisions about how property should be distributed after her death may be concerned about the possibility of family fights over the property. A dispute resolution clause included in the will may assuage the testator’s concerns and may also prove beneficial to the beneficiaries after the testator’s death. Professor Love will describe the potential effects of using dispute resolution clauses in wills.
Moderator and Speakers
- Moderator: Susan N. Gary, University of Oregon School of Law
- Carol Bensinger Liebman, Columbia University School of Law
- Lela Porter Love, Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
- Kate Mewhinney, Wake Forest University School of Law
- Mary F. Radford, Georgia State University College of Law
- Ellen Waldman, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Program Materials
- Is the Use of Mediation Appropriate in Adult Guardianship Cases? (PDF), Prof. Mary F. Radford
- Mediating Health Care Disputes at the End of Life (PPT),Prof. Ellen Waldman (PPT)
- Mediation and the Elderly - Health Care Disputes (PPT), Prof. Carol B. Liebman
- Mediation Clauses in Wills (PPT), Prof. Lela Porter Love
- North Carolina and Mediation of Guardianships (PPT), Prof. Kate Mewhinney
- North Carolina and Mediation of Guardianships (Handout in PDF), Prof. Kate Mewhinney