Peter Falk’s Daughter

Catherine Falk, daughter of the well known Peter Falk (Columbo to many of us) is fighting for a bill in the state of California that grants children and family access to elderly and incapacitated loved ones who are under the care of someone else. In this particular case, Peter Falk was in the care of his second wife, who banned the family from seeing him in his final years and even banned them from the funeral. Catherine is fighting this issue in California, but it is an issue many families may face in the future. As second and third marriages are on the rise, there are many situations where the current spouse and the children from a previous marriage do not get along. In California, the law favors the spouse in family disputes. Although it may still require the family to go to court to get access, her efforts are designed to streamline the process so the family does not have to go through a long and expensive court battle. The proposed law makes the caretaker liable for elder abuse and it allows the children the ability to see their parents. Not all isolation results in elder abuse, but laws to give all family members access to a parent to ensure there are checks and balances is never a bad idea. Even if we are not dealing with “famous” parents, we still run into situations in everyday life where a parent is being sheltered from visitation by family and friends. In some cases, there is a need to shelter the parent to prevent elder abuse by certain family members (typically financial elder abuse), but in most cases, the laws are designed to prevent caretaker abuse and force the caretaker to prove why they are banning any contact from family members.