{"id":12236,"date":"2021-05-30T08:48:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T13:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legaltalktexas.hammerle.com\/?p=12236"},"modified":"2025-06-18T16:59:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T21:59:50","slug":"wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It isn\u2019t often that the folks on the United States Supreme Court talk about the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/practice-areas\/elder-law\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">elderly<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is a Wellness Check?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A wellness, or welfare, check is when police go by a person\u2019s home to check that person\u2019s well-being. To define the issue, we turn to the example given by Justice Kavanaugh: \u201cSuppose that an elderly man is uncharacteristically absent from Sunday church services and repeatedly fails to answer his phone through the day and night. A concerned relative calls the police and asks the officers to perform a wellness check. Two officers drive to the man\u2019s home. They knock but receive no response. May the officers enter the home? Of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Justice Kavanaugh was writing in his concurrence to an opinion by the Court about the Fourth Amendment and a warrantless search and seizure. The opinion held that police officers who received a report that a man was suicidal, and then entered the man\u2019s home on a welfare check, could not later remove that man\u2019s firearms from the premises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Entering a home without a warrant is typically a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Court noted \u201cThe Fourth Amendment protects the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.\u00a0 The very core of the guarantee is the right of a man to retreat into his own home and be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The courts have carved out some exceptions to the Fourth Amendment. They have found that some governmental intrusions are considered reasonable, such as when there is a need to assist someone seriously injured or threatened with injury, or when the action is the same as a private person could take. In those cases, an officer can enter the home without having a search warrant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, the First Circuit Court of Appeals pushed the boundaries of the Fourth Amendment exception and created a broad category called \u201ccommunity caretaking,\u201d which basically included any non-law-enforcement work that the community cared to define. It decided that the police were justified in taking the firearms because they were merely operating under community caretaking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All 9 Supreme Court Justices agreed that was just a step too far. There is no general caretaking doctrine that justifies warrantless searches and seizures in the home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again, but\u2026..<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four of the Justices were apparently concerned that the court\u2019s opinion would be read too broadly. So three of them, with one Justice joining, separately wrote concurrences that recognized police continued to have the right to enter a home without a warrant when they reasonably believed that medical assistance was needed or persons were in danger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why Are Wellness Checks Important for the Elderly?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then they narrowed in on welfare checks and the elderly. Justice Alito wrote \u201cToday, more than ever, many people, including many elderly persons, live alone. Many elderly men and women fall in their homes or become incapacitated for other reasons, and unfortunately, there are many cases in which such persons cannot call for assistance. In those cases, the chances for a good recovery may fade with each passing hour\u2026\u2026. This imaginary woman may have regarded her house as her castle, but it is doubtful that she would have wanted it to be the place where she died alone and in agony.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The legal justification for a wellness check on an elderly person is the \u201cexigent circumstances doctrine.\u201d You might want to keep that information handy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/lawyers\/virginia-hammerle\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Virginia Hammerle<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an attorney with <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whose practice includes <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/practice-areas\/estate-planning-probate\/probate\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">probate law<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/practice-areas\/estate-planning-probate\/estate-planning\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">estate planning<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/practice-areas\/estate-planning-probate\/estate-and-trust-litigation\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contested litigation<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0 To receive her newsletter <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/lewisville-attorney\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contact<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> her at legaltalktexas@hammerle.com.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It isn\u2019t often that the folks on the United States Supreme Court talk about the elderly falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.\u00a0 What is a Wellness Check?\u00a0 A wellness, or welfare, check is when police go by a person\u2019s home to check that person\u2019s well-being. To define the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1224],"tags":[1060,685,1098],"class_list":{"0":"post-12236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-estate-planning","8":"tag-elder-law","9":"tag-estate-planning","10":"tag-legal-talk"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly - Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It isn\u2019t often that the United States Supreme Court talks about the elderly falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly - Hammerle Morris Law Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It isn\u2019t often that the United States Supreme Court talks about the elderly falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hammerle Morris Law Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-30T13:48:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-18T21:59:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/5.30-blog-final.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Virginia Hammerle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Virginia Hammerle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Virginia Hammerle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\"},\"headline\":\"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-30T13:48:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-18T21:59:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":635,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/5.30-blog-final.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Elder Law\",\"Estate Planning\",\"Legal Talk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Estate Planning\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly - Hammerle Morris Law Firm\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/5.30-blog-final.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-30T13:48:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-18T21:59:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\"},\"description\":\"It isn\u2019t often that the United States Supreme Court talks about the elderly falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/5.30-blog-final.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/5.30-blog-final.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"man knocking on someone's front door\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/estate-planning\\\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hammerle Morris Law Firm\",\"description\":\"Legal Talk Texas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\",\"name\":\"Virginia Hammerle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Virginia Hammerle\"},\"description\":\"Virginia Hammerle is a contributing columnist to The Dallas Morning News and writes weekly articles and blogs on legal issues confronting seniors and their families.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/virginiahammerle\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/author\\\/virginia-hammerle\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly - Hammerle Morris Law Firm","description":"It isn\u2019t often that the United States Supreme Court talks about the elderly falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly - Hammerle Morris Law Firm","og_description":"It isn\u2019t often that the United States Supreme Court talks about the elderly falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.","og_url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/","og_site_name":"Hammerle Morris Law Firm","article_published_time":"2021-05-30T13:48:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-18T21:59:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/5.30-blog-final.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Virginia Hammerle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Virginia Hammerle","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/"},"author":{"name":"Virginia Hammerle","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd"},"headline":"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly","datePublished":"2021-05-30T13:48:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-18T21:59:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/"},"wordCount":635,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/5.30-blog-final.png","keywords":["Elder Law","Estate Planning","Legal Talk"],"articleSection":["Estate Planning"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/","name":"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly - Hammerle Morris Law Firm","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/5.30-blog-final.png","datePublished":"2021-05-30T13:48:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-18T21:59:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd"},"description":"It isn\u2019t often that the United States Supreme Court talks about the elderly falling at home, but that is exactly what happened in a recent opinion.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/5.30-blog-final.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/5.30-blog-final.png","width":800,"height":500,"caption":"man knocking on someone's front door"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/wellness-checks-and-the-fourth-amendment-a-safety-net-for-the-elderly\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wellness Checks and the Fourth Amendment: A Safety Net for the Elderly"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/","name":"Hammerle Morris Law Firm","description":"Legal Talk Texas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd","name":"Virginia Hammerle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","caption":"Virginia Hammerle"},"description":"Virginia Hammerle is a contributing columnist to The Dallas Morning News and writes weekly articles and blogs on legal issues confronting seniors and their families.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/virginiahammerle\/"],"url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/author\/virginia-hammerle\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}