Victims of nursing home abuse and neglect have won the right to have their cases heard by a jury. In a landmarkchange in regulationsby the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services  nursing homes can no longer require residents to submit claims to private arbitration. 

The change was prompted by high-profile cases in which residents and their families were barred from seeking relief in the courts from horrendous instances of physical abuse. In one of the cases, a 100-year-old nursing home resident was strangled to death by a roommate, and in another, a 94-year-old resident died of a head wound at a Pennsylvania facility.

Most estate plan packages include a financial power of attorney. This document is intended to make sure that if you become unable to manage your financial affairs, your nominated agent can take over.

But more and more frequently, banks and brokerage firms reject these attorney-drafted powers and insisttheir own formsbe signed.

That's not a problem, unless you've already lost your capacity to sign such a document.

This can create a nightmare for relatives who urgently need to step in for an impaired parent or other family member.