Dangers that threaten the elderly from their children and caregivers

Unfortunately, people who must love or care for a family member or bear sickness or old age, can and do carry out terrible acts against their parents and the elderly people they care for. A trusted child or caretaker may succeed in defrauding an elder out of money and property by mentally, physically, or financially abusing the elder. Elder abuse is accomplished through coercion and undue influence coupled with the elder’s fear of being alone and without help. 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. If you read the list and recognize what people might try to do to you, you may be better able to 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 your 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 to the house, either by yourself or as a joint owner with rights 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 took $45,000 from his family’s bank accounts. A guardian I know took $300,000 from the ward’s accounts.
• Take the old man to the bank to withdraw the funds from those who take control. Frequent visits to the bank can quickly deplete an elder’s resources.
• Be 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 it.
• Try to get annuities or pension benefits in your name. This allows them to collect the full amount and leaves the elder without the monthly stipend. Of course, the old man has to pay the tax consequences.
• Try to keep the elder 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 met.
• Write a new will for the elders and induce them to sign it without the elder understanding the provisions. The new testament is often executed as a result of coercion, as a threat to never visit them. Sometimes an elder will accede to this demand out of fear of alienating the child or caregiver. This type of will is often contested, costing the estate a lot of money in probate proceedings.
• Get cars and other property titled in your name. It’s amazing how much cheating someone will go through to get old because that’s not worth a lot of money. If the car is newer and more valuable, they work faster and harder to get it in your name.
• Remove the driver’s license or identification of the elderly, credit and debit cards and checkbooks. This leaves the old man totally 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 the elder’s preferences and needs.
• He does not take an elderly person to the doctors or does not provide him with his 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 staff on the elderly to keep him or treat him inappropriately so that he dies sooner. I saw a perfectly healthy woman who was spared, wasted away from 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 whom to call. If they can’t help you, they will give you the number of someone who can help you.

• A senior lawyer
• HELP LINK 1.800.273.6222
• Your local council on aging
• Your County Adult Protective Services
• seniors at home
• Don’t borrow trouble
• CANHR 1.800.474.1116

Before any of the dangers listed above happen to you, you should establish a relationship with an estate planning and elder law attorney who will provide you with the legal documents that will keep you well cared for in the event you become ill or lose mental or mental capacity. physics to care 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 look after your interests is yourself. Make sure you are aware of the powers of attorney available for financial and health decisions and have planned ahead of time what to do if you are unable to manage your own financial and health matters.