Financial Elder Abuse

What Is Financial Elder Abuse?

Financial elder abuse involves taking advantage of older people and unfairly benefiting from their monetary resources. Family members, business associates, caregivers, and strangers sometimes financially abuse elders by taking advantage of their trust. Tactics involved in financial elder abuse include the unauthorized use of an older person’s assets, gaining power of attorney by way of trickery, or engaging in fraud.

Understanding Financial Elder Abuse

Financial elder abuse often involves family members who think they are entitled to a parent’s, grandparent's, or other older relative's assets. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a 2011 New York State study found that 41 in 1,000 elders reported financial abuse, a rate higher than that for emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, or for neglect. The organization also notes this figure typically is underreported. Abusers exploit as many as five million older Americans financially each year, costing them $3 to over $35 billion annually.

Individuals at risk for financial elder abuse include older adults who depend on personal care from others, those who recently lost a spouse who handled the finances, and those living in long-term care facilities. Financial elder abuse sometimes involves threats. For example, family members who withhold needed care for an older relative or warn they’ll send that person to a nursing home unless they sign over financial assets are engaging in elder abuse.

Signs of Financial Elder Abuse

Warning signs of financial elder abuse include rapid account drawdowns or other unusual financial behavior, as well as new close friends who seem to know a lot about an older adult's personal and financial life. Other signs include the opening of unknown accounts, increased account activity, and suspicious withdrawals. Moreover, recent and unknown changes to wills, mortgages, trusts, deeds, and property titles all provide warning signs.

The signs above are common but are only able to be viewed by those within close contact of the abused elder. Some other signs that are less subtle include noticing someone close to the victim wearing new clothes, driving a new car, or otherwise spending more lavishly than their income might permit. It could include noticing someone close to the victim receiving more bank notices than normal (opening new accounts or businesses to deposit stolen money), noticing creditors calling or showing up the victim's residence, and others.

Other signs include noticing heirlooms missing from the victim's house or noticing someone in your house with new jewelry, watches, etc when they are in close contact with an elder they have the potential to abuse. Landlords could notice that the elder is late on rental payments and hasn't been in the past. It could be as simple as noticing the elder has a "new best friend" that is always around the elder and seems overprotective of the relationship they have developed.

How Financial Elder Abuse Is Committed

Financial elder abuse can be committed in a number of ways. Someone could simply steal a watch from the elder. Another more savvy thief might open a shell company and "bill" the elder for services that look legitimate on paper but never occurred. An abuser may be able to forge the signature of the victim and apply it to checks, loans, credit card paperwork, or other financial outlets where they could withdraw funds directly from the victim.

An abuser may take new items from the elder's home and "return" them to the store they were purchased from and spend the credit themselves, as there is no name associated with it. Elders should be especially careful around those who claim they have won a lottery or sweepstakes. Be wary of those who promise services with payment in advance unless they are a legitimate company.

There are other more nefarious means of committing financial elder abuse that are perpetrated by those who are in positions of social trust. This would include bankers, lawyers, caretakers, and health care providers. They may transfer funds directly, assign payments to themselves, make withdraws "for" the victim, etc. Lawyers would be able to change wills and forge a signature.

There are so many ways financial elder abuse is committed. Unfortunately, so much of the abuse goes unreported because the elder is often alone and in a lot of cases has no idea they are being taken advantage of or outright stolen from.

How to Protect Against Financial Elder Abuse

There are two people who can protect an elder from financial elder abuse. The elder is always the first line of defense. However, since many elders suffer from certain ailments that affect their cognitive abilities, criminals are more likely to prey on them than an elder who is well aware of their financial status.

The second person who can help protect elders are the family, friends, and acquaintances of the elder. They become especially important if the elder is in a position to be a target for abuse, such as an elder with significant savings and dementia.

Tips for Elders

Those at risk of being a victim themselves should do everything they can to protect themselves, especially if they do not have a support system to help watch their back. Some of the most important steps you can take are to lock all important documents somewhere safe, pay electronically or with checks in order to create a paper trail, build relationships with people and do research before engaging in any business, and trust your instincts.

Some other steps you can take if you are concerned about being a potential target are to not broadcast what you possess, check credit reports at least once a year, shred all important paperwork, and plan ahead with your bank and lawyer to make sure your wishes are carried out. Involving two separate people is always an added layer of security as they will be reviewing the other and will notice any odd adjustments to your will, accounts, etc.

Tips for Friends, Family, and Acquaintances

The second line of defense for elders is the ones closest to them. In many cases, that could be a business acquaintance such as a banker or lawyer. Although the signs may be more subtle if you are viewing them from an outside perspective, there are steps you can take to avoid them happening altogether and in some cases, help protect those who cannot financially protect themselves.

You should always be wary of new people in the elder's life, especially those who seem abnormally close to the elder. Any change in the elder's financial stability, such as a sudden inability to pay rent or car payments, should be an immediate red flag. If you can, try to review the bank and credit card statements with the elder. You don't need to know all the information, and sometimes even reviewing statements or credit reports can help the elder notice something is off.

Watch for unexplained mood changes in the elder, especially depression and anxiety. The elder can also appear confused, or if they are not able to make sense of something. If you feel something is "off," it is always worth investigating.

If you manage their mail and notice that bank and credit card statements suddenly stop arriving at the address, that is a warning sign that they have been redirected to someone else. Make sure there are no signatures of pieces of identification lying around if the elder ever has visitors.

Where to Find Help

Resources for those who think they are being exploited include a service from the U.S. Administration on Aging called the Eldercare Locator, which can be reached online or by calling 800-677-1116. In addition, most states have some sort of adult protective services agency.

All states have long-term care ombudsmen who advocate for residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Many have experience dealing with financial elder abuse. Individuals in these facilities can go to the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care to find an ombudsman.

In addition, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has resource guides that can help older adults and those assisting them to avoid abuse. Finally, it’s not unheard of to simply call or go to a local police station and ask for help.

The Bottom Line

Financial abuse of the elderly is, unfortunately, something that happens all too often, and usually by a family member or close acquaintance. There are steps that both the elder and those close to them can take in order to prevent such an act from occurring; however, those committing the financial abuse will often be aware of who is close to the elder and will do whatever they can to not get caught. Elder financial abuse is an emotional event and both law enforcement and your state's protective services should be contacted if there are any signs of abuse.