Estate Planning: Elder Law: Financial Abuse Costs Elderly Billions
Mickey Rooney took on a new role last week, as an advocate for abused seniors. His personal story of betrayal was painful to watch. The 90-year-old actor bravely shared the shame and humiliation of elder abuse with members of Congress and the entire country.Elder Law.
“For years I suffered silently, unable to muster the courage to seek the help I knew I needed,” he said.
Rooney told a Senate subcommittee a family member withheld food and medicine and meddled in his personal finances. If this could happen to him, Rooney said, it could happen to anyone. He urged lawmakers to do something about the growing problem- and do it now.
Financial abuse of the elderly is a serious problem, even though we rarely hear about it. A study done by MetLife Mature Market Institute in 2009 estimated the financial loss from abuses to be at least $2.6 billion a year. But that’s just an educated guess.
“Right now, we truly don’t know how much exists,” says Professor Pamela Teaster, who chairs the department of gerontology at the University of Kentucky and is on the board of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. “We believe it is an incredibly under-reported problem.”
The MetLife study, which Teaster helped write, found that only one in six cases of elderly financial abuse is ever reported. Based on new information, she says, that figure now appears to be conservative.
“We have hit some hard financial times and we’re seeing the exploitation increasing,” Teaster said.
The opportunities for abuse of the elderly are almost limitless. The exploitation can take place at a care facility where a staff member is able to cozy up to a resident to get jewelry, money or power of attorney. In other cases, family members believe they are entitled to their parents’ or grandparents’ money and find ways to take it.
Con artists also prey on older people, because as a group they control a tremendous amount of this country’s wealth, and in many cases poor health-both physical and mental-makes them easy targets for financial predators.
“It can be a complete stranger, a dishonest telemarketer or someone who just befriends an older person, either through the phone, internet or some happenstance meeting,” explained Bob Blancato, national coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition. “It’s sad to see them take advantage of these vulnerable people.”
Reference: Consumer News on NBC News.com, By: Herb Weisbaum
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