SLATE COLUMN: …Think of it this way: Monetary abuse of the elderly is, in some ways, the financial equivalent of date rape, often leaving victims shamed, embarrassed, and blaming themselves for their own victimization—and, as a result, unlikely to come forward. Others aren’t even aware anything is wrong, or that what happened to them was illegal. It’s also often committed by intimates, like paid or family caretakers or trusted advisers. Even when it’s a scammer, it’s someone—a contractor, or magazine salesperson—who has gained the victim’s trust. That, of course, only makes their situation worse…
Certainly, these cases are not exactly hard to find—last week Deadline Hollywood highlighted the sad fate of Eunice Bellah, the widow of the late and acclaimed television and film art director Ross Bellah. A few years after her husband’s death, the longtime family accountant deposited Eunice Bellah in a nursing home, sold her residence, and listed possessions ranging from wheelchairs to artwork on Craigslist, with longtime family friends powerless to intervene.
And while a 2012 poll conducted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards found more than half of those polled had elderly clients they suspected had been victimized by financial abuse, many financial advisers are also part of the problem. The free-lunch circuit—where seniors are treated to a meal at a place like Ruth’s Chris Steak House in return for listening to a financial pitch—is notorious, so much so that when AARP studied it in 2009, the group discovered almost half of those they surveyed who attended such a meal had the host ask for a private follow-up appointment at their personal residence, where they attempt to sell them on investments that may or may not be right for them… (more)
EDITOR: What are we to do when we become elderly and frail? Whom can we trust to treat us and our estate in a fair manner?
Our suggestion is some form of co-stewardship with a sizable bank and a large law firm. The worse thing to do is to put a singe practice attorney, a small law firm, or a family member in full charge.
In Pennsylvania if you are old and have money just accept that in your last days financial “advisors”, bankers, unscrupulous family members, others will collude to steal every asset and arrange for your quick demise all while law enforcement “adult protective services” do nothing to prevent it and when it is ever reported treat the reporters like criminals instead of the financial exploiters and abusers.
In fact in Pennsylvania as long as the taxes are paid by the estate they don’t really care what happened to the person that died.
EDITOR: Let’s hope the assumption that they have insurance in large amounts is correct.