Unfortunately, people who must love or care for a family member or burden themselves with illness or old age can and do commit terrible acts against their parents and the elderly they care for. A trusted child or caregiver may be successful in defrauding an elder of money and property through mental, physical, or financial abuse of the elder. Elder abuse is accomplished through coercion and undue influence coupled with the elder’s fear of being alone and unaided. The elderly often give in to physical threats that the caregiver will leave them alone, hit them, or not take them to the bathroom. The elderly are especially susceptible to emotional threats or fear that the family member will not love them or continue to visit them.
The following is a list of things that are some of the dangers that I have seen during my years of practicing elder law. By reading the list and recognizing what people might try to do to you, you may be able to better resist their influence or call someone to help you resist it. Some people to call are listed at the end of this article. You can get their local phone numbers in the front of your phone book or online.
Children and caregivers can and do:
- Try to put your own name on the title of the house, either alone or as a co-owner with right of survivorship. This prevents other siblings from inheriting the house.
- Try to get authorization to write checks on your bank account. This means that the caregiver can use all of the elder’s money. One of my clients’ caregivers appropriated $45,000 from the bank accounts of his charge. A guardian I know took $300,000 from the ward’s accounts.
- Take the old man to the bank to withdraw the funds they take control of. Frequent visits to the bank can quickly exhaust the resources of the elderly.
- Being a co-owner of a bank account. This means that whatever is in the account at the time of the principal’s death automatically belongs to the surviving co-owner. The rest of the kids don’t get any of that.
- Try to get annuity or pension benefits in your name. This allows them to collect the full amount and leaves the senior without the monthly stipend. Of course, the old man has to pay the tax consequences.
- Try to keep the old man to gain control of all assets. This makes the elder totally dependent on the conservator for everything and dehumanizes the elder because their expressed wants and needs are not addressed.
- Draft a new will for the elders and induce them to sign it without the elder understanding the provisions. The new will is often executed as a result of coercion, such as a threat to never visit them. Sometimes an elder will agree to this demand for fear of alienating the child or caregiver. This type of will is often contested, costing the estate a lot of money in a probate proceeding.
- Get cars and other property titled in your name. It’s amazing how much cheating and cheating someone will go through to get old because that’s not worth a lot of money. If the car is new and more valuable, they work faster and harder to get it in your name.
- Withdraw the driver’s license or identification of the elderly, credit and debit cards and checkbooks. This leaves the old man completely helpless and dependent on the generosity of the person who took his cards and money.
- Take control of money and credit cards. After gaining control, they give the old man a minuscule sum of money each month, keeping the rest for themselves. In one family, children used an online grocery delivery service to place expensive orders for unnecessary and inappropriate food without concern for their elder’s preferences and needs.
- You do not take an elderly person to the doctors or do not provide them with their medicines.. A conservator denied that her mother prescribed daily medication for 8 weeks.
- Get a designated health care agent. In this way, the agent can negatively influence the medical personnel on the old man to preserve him or treat him inappropriately so that he dies before. I saw a perfectly healthy woman who was preserved, wasted away due to depression and malnutrition, ran out of medication she didn’t need, and died six months later.
If something like this happens to you or someone you know who is over 65, it is elder abuse. The old man shouldn’t just accept it and keep quiet. Call someone who can stop the abuse. Here is a suggested list of who to call. If they can’t help you, they will give you the number of someone who can help you.
- A lawyer for the elderly
- HELP LINK 1.800.273.6222
- Your local council on aging
- The Adult Protective Services in your county
- seniors at home
- Don’t borrow trouble
- CANHR 1.800.474.1116
Before any of the dangers listed above befall you, you should establish a relationship with an elder law and estate planning attorney who will provide you with the legal documents that will keep you well taken care of should you become ill or lose mental capacity or physical to take care of. for you. You can execute a durable power of attorney for finances, an advance health care directive or living will for health care decisions, and even a care contract with a caregiver.
Remember, the only one you can trust to plan efficiently to take care of your best interests is yourself. Make sure you are aware of the powers of attorney available for financial and health decisions and have planned ahead for what to do if you are unable to manage your own financial and health matters.
