Yesterday I was chatting with opposing counsel in a trust litigation matter I'm handling. Both of us agreed that there are some interesting issues involved with the case, but we also agreed that we need to work together to resolve these issues (rather than go to court) because the trust just isn't big enough for a major court battle. If we did go to court, opposing counsel and I would become the estate's biggest beneficiaries, via the attorneys fees we'd receive.
I took this off the death & taxes blog, read it all the time, he's an attorney that makes the law fun. He talks about Probate Court too but I can't imagine he fits in on the 18th if he's talking like that.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Unholy Matrimony: How to Fight Back
By KELLY GREENE
It is difficult enough to entrust an elderly parent's care to someone you hire. But what do you do when that worker secretly marries their charge—and claims a chunk of your inheritance?
Although no one tracks the numbers of such marriages, lawyers who handle estate-related litigation say they are seeing increasing numbers of "predatory unions," as life spans increase and dementia becomes more common.
"Let's face it—baby boomers are heading into old age," says Susan Slater-Jansen, an estate-planning attorney at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever in White Plains, N.Y. "It's going to be an increasing problem."
What's worse, it is virtually impossible for children to challenge the property consequences of a parent getting married once the parent dies, says Terry Turnipseed, an associate law professor at Syracuse University, who has studied "deathbed marriages" and analyzed state laws.
How could families be duped into not knowing their own parents had married? In one case, an adult daughter left her elderly father in the care of a longtime friend while she took a short vacation. In one week, the friend married the father, started transferring assets into joint accounts and named herself his pension beneficiary. The children learned of the marriage a month later. When they confronted their father, he recalled nothing about it.
In another case, a hired caretaker secretly married her charge of nine years about a year before his death. She told his children about it the day before his funeral.
In most states, the inheritance rights of widows and widowers trump any estate plan—even if the new spouse wasn't named in the will, and even if the marriage took place shortly before the death of someone unable to recall a few days later that they said "I do."
The only way many state courts can fix things is to annul a marriage after death. Typically the only person who has legal standing to sue is the surviving spouse, "who of course has no incentive whatsoever to annul the marriage," Mr. Turnipseed says.
But in a few states, courts and lawmakers are starting to make it easier to unwind a twilight union. Florida closed a loophole last year by enacting a law that gives heirs and others the legal standing to challenge any marriage—even after a spouse's death—on the grounds of fraud, duress or undue influence.
Florida's statute found a way around the big legal concern: that state laws could be challenged as messing with the constitutional right to marriage, says Samantha Weissbluth, an estate litigator with Foley & Lardner in Chicago. "It doesn't narrow any existing right to marry; it severs marriage from its usual property consequences in certain circumstances," she says.
In New York, an appeals court last year ruled in favor of the families of two men with dementia who had secretly married outside caregivers before their deaths, by denying their surviving spouses a share of the dead men's assets.
"The spouses were deemed to be committing fraud because the decedents didn't have the capacity to know what they were doing," Ms. Slater-Jansen says.
But until more state legislatures and courts take action, families need to watch out when employing caregivers.
Distance often exacerbates the problem. It is tough to supervise workers in a parent's home from afar. Before you hire anyone, extensive background checks are crucial, along with making sure any paid caregivers are bonded and insured, says Patricia Maisano, chief executive of Ikor USA in Kennett Square, Pa., which provides case-management and advocacy services for elderly and disabled clients.
Ask the aide to consent to a background check and provide a Social Security number if he or she hasn't been screened or formally trained, she says. Don't hire anyone who refuses. You may want to hire a geriatric-care manager to keep an eye on home health-care aides.
If you do sense that your parent is developing a relationship with an aide, don't keep it to yourself. Tell your family, and your parent, about your concerns. The worst thing the child and parent could do is to quit speaking to each other, says John Morken, a partner at Farrell Fritz in Uniondale, N.Y.
If your parent is diagnosed with dementia, one defense against fraud is a durable power of attorney—a legal arrangement that helps older people turn over management of their finances to a family member or others—assuming he or she can still execute one. If used, it is a good idea to require all of the adult children's consent for transactions over a certain dollar amount. That way, you can make sure that no one in the family falls sway to the hired help—or takes advantage of the situation himself, says Ms. Slater-Jansen.
Another defense: having your parent put their assets in a trust. If the assets involved are worth less than $5 million—and you set it up this year or next, when there is no gift tax on that amount—make the trust irrevocable, meaning it can't be unwound during the parent's lifetime. If you use a revocable trust, make sure the paid caregiver doesn't know about it, she says.
Many parents, though, are suspicious of their own children's attempts to help them. If your parents refused to shield their assets in advance, and you worry that a deathbed marriage is looming, there is one more step that may make sense: Going to court to have a parent ruled as lacking the capacity to tie the knot.
It is difficult enough to entrust an elderly parent's care to someone you hire. But what do you do when that worker secretly marries their charge—and claims a chunk of your inheritance?
Although no one tracks the numbers of such marriages, lawyers who handle estate-related litigation say they are seeing increasing numbers of "predatory unions," as life spans increase and dementia becomes more common.
"Let's face it—baby boomers are heading into old age," says Susan Slater-Jansen, an estate-planning attorney at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever in White Plains, N.Y. "It's going to be an increasing problem."
What's worse, it is virtually impossible for children to challenge the property consequences of a parent getting married once the parent dies, says Terry Turnipseed, an associate law professor at Syracuse University, who has studied "deathbed marriages" and analyzed state laws.
How could families be duped into not knowing their own parents had married? In one case, an adult daughter left her elderly father in the care of a longtime friend while she took a short vacation. In one week, the friend married the father, started transferring assets into joint accounts and named herself his pension beneficiary. The children learned of the marriage a month later. When they confronted their father, he recalled nothing about it.
In another case, a hired caretaker secretly married her charge of nine years about a year before his death. She told his children about it the day before his funeral.
In most states, the inheritance rights of widows and widowers trump any estate plan—even if the new spouse wasn't named in the will, and even if the marriage took place shortly before the death of someone unable to recall a few days later that they said "I do."
The only way many state courts can fix things is to annul a marriage after death. Typically the only person who has legal standing to sue is the surviving spouse, "who of course has no incentive whatsoever to annul the marriage," Mr. Turnipseed says.
But in a few states, courts and lawmakers are starting to make it easier to unwind a twilight union. Florida closed a loophole last year by enacting a law that gives heirs and others the legal standing to challenge any marriage—even after a spouse's death—on the grounds of fraud, duress or undue influence.
Florida's statute found a way around the big legal concern: that state laws could be challenged as messing with the constitutional right to marriage, says Samantha Weissbluth, an estate litigator with Foley & Lardner in Chicago. "It doesn't narrow any existing right to marry; it severs marriage from its usual property consequences in certain circumstances," she says.
In New York, an appeals court last year ruled in favor of the families of two men with dementia who had secretly married outside caregivers before their deaths, by denying their surviving spouses a share of the dead men's assets.
"The spouses were deemed to be committing fraud because the decedents didn't have the capacity to know what they were doing," Ms. Slater-Jansen says.
But until more state legislatures and courts take action, families need to watch out when employing caregivers.
Distance often exacerbates the problem. It is tough to supervise workers in a parent's home from afar. Before you hire anyone, extensive background checks are crucial, along with making sure any paid caregivers are bonded and insured, says Patricia Maisano, chief executive of Ikor USA in Kennett Square, Pa., which provides case-management and advocacy services for elderly and disabled clients.
Ask the aide to consent to a background check and provide a Social Security number if he or she hasn't been screened or formally trained, she says. Don't hire anyone who refuses. You may want to hire a geriatric-care manager to keep an eye on home health-care aides.
If you do sense that your parent is developing a relationship with an aide, don't keep it to yourself. Tell your family, and your parent, about your concerns. The worst thing the child and parent could do is to quit speaking to each other, says John Morken, a partner at Farrell Fritz in Uniondale, N.Y.
If your parent is diagnosed with dementia, one defense against fraud is a durable power of attorney—a legal arrangement that helps older people turn over management of their finances to a family member or others—assuming he or she can still execute one. If used, it is a good idea to require all of the adult children's consent for transactions over a certain dollar amount. That way, you can make sure that no one in the family falls sway to the hired help—or takes advantage of the situation himself, says Ms. Slater-Jansen.
Another defense: having your parent put their assets in a trust. If the assets involved are worth less than $5 million—and you set it up this year or next, when there is no gift tax on that amount—make the trust irrevocable, meaning it can't be unwound during the parent's lifetime. If you use a revocable trust, make sure the paid caregiver doesn't know about it, she says.
Many parents, though, are suspicious of their own children's attempts to help them. If your parents refused to shield their assets in advance, and you worry that a deathbed marriage is looming, there is one more step that may make sense: Going to court to have a parent ruled as lacking the capacity to tie the knot.
Declining Cognitive Ability Presents Challenges to Boomer Finances.
By Mary Pilon
As Baby Boomers age, policy makers and economists may be served by looking at the condition of not just their nest eggs, but the health of their brains.
The late Brooke Astor is an example of the dangers of declining cognitive function.So says economist David Laibson, of Harvard University in a speech called “The Age of Reason.” Prof. Laibson spoke at Morningstar’s annual conference in Chicago before hundreds of financial advisers and asset managers — industries grappling with the inevitable shift of assets from workers accumulating money to those trying to live on it as they grow older.
Prof. Laibson opened with an image of the famously wealthy Brooke Astor. “One of our most remarkable individuals ended up in this terrible state” because of a lack of cognitive abilities, he said.
About 35% of wealth is controlled by those 65 or older, Prof. Laibson said, and that number will grow as boomers age. The total balance sheet of U.S. households is $53 trillion, he says. As about $18 trillion hang in the balance among seniors, the question is, what will be done to help aging people from becoming another Brooke Astor?
Fluid intelligence — that is intelligence displayed in things like memory tests — decreases dramatically with age. In fact, “it’s all downhill from age 20” Prof. Laibson said. “What about the 80-year-olds? It’s the 80-years-olds who have the million dollar IRAs. Not the 20-year-olds.”
But clearly, there’s a lot more to life than fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence — memory, wisdom and so on — does increase over time, but less so, on average, in senior years.
All told, the point at which we make the best financial choices is 53 years old, according to his data. “Of course there are exceptions,” Prof. Laibson said. “I would take Warren Buffett at 81 over most 50-year-olds.” (But he also acknowledges he would take a fiftysomething Buffett over one in his 80s.)
Many seniors end up in a state called cognitive impairment without dementia that isn’t quite dementia, but still (as the name implies) a deterioration of memory. In spite of this, people still may make financial decisions on their own. Prof. Labison estimated that 16% of those 71-79 years old, 29.2% of 80-89 year olds, some 38.8% of those over 90 years old are in such a state.
Those people are at great risk for financial abuse. Some 17% of professional care staff report committing psychological abuse and 10% physical abuse, Prof. Laibson said. (50% of Devon Bank clients under guardianship are financially abused).
Those over the age of 50 end up paying higher interest rates, even though on average they had better FICO scores and lower default rates, Prof. Laibson said. “Middle aged people get better deals,” he said. In terms of risk-adjusted returns on investments, the young do relatively well, but the “old are doing absolutely abysmal,” paying more in fees and suffering from poor asset allocation, he said. (Especially those with trust accounts at Devon Bank.)
Prof. Laibson called for keeping things simple for clients, while still giving them a sense of control. (Then his clients better not open a trust account at Devon Bank. They don't simplify anything nor do they give their clients a sense of control. Quite the contrary, they humiliate and exploit their clients.) He called on policy makers to expand a fiduciary duty for financial advisers and expand regulations requiring power of attorney for the elderly. (Having a POA doesn't matter to Devon Bank either. If their clients have a lot of money, they'll slander the current POA and hire Josh Mitzen to abuse their clientele in order to get free reign over the money only to squander it.)
That overoptimism about mental muscle keeps people from asking for help. “We procrastinate. We don’t like complexity… We have bad memory and we don’t know the extent of our bad memory,” he said.
As Baby Boomers age, policy makers and economists may be served by looking at the condition of not just their nest eggs, but the health of their brains.
The late Brooke Astor is an example of the dangers of declining cognitive function.So says economist David Laibson, of Harvard University in a speech called “The Age of Reason.” Prof. Laibson spoke at Morningstar’s annual conference in Chicago before hundreds of financial advisers and asset managers — industries grappling with the inevitable shift of assets from workers accumulating money to those trying to live on it as they grow older.
Prof. Laibson opened with an image of the famously wealthy Brooke Astor. “One of our most remarkable individuals ended up in this terrible state” because of a lack of cognitive abilities, he said.
About 35% of wealth is controlled by those 65 or older, Prof. Laibson said, and that number will grow as boomers age. The total balance sheet of U.S. households is $53 trillion, he says. As about $18 trillion hang in the balance among seniors, the question is, what will be done to help aging people from becoming another Brooke Astor?
Fluid intelligence — that is intelligence displayed in things like memory tests — decreases dramatically with age. In fact, “it’s all downhill from age 20” Prof. Laibson said. “What about the 80-year-olds? It’s the 80-years-olds who have the million dollar IRAs. Not the 20-year-olds.”
But clearly, there’s a lot more to life than fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence — memory, wisdom and so on — does increase over time, but less so, on average, in senior years.
All told, the point at which we make the best financial choices is 53 years old, according to his data. “Of course there are exceptions,” Prof. Laibson said. “I would take Warren Buffett at 81 over most 50-year-olds.” (But he also acknowledges he would take a fiftysomething Buffett over one in his 80s.)
Many seniors end up in a state called cognitive impairment without dementia that isn’t quite dementia, but still (as the name implies) a deterioration of memory. In spite of this, people still may make financial decisions on their own. Prof. Labison estimated that 16% of those 71-79 years old, 29.2% of 80-89 year olds, some 38.8% of those over 90 years old are in such a state.
Those people are at great risk for financial abuse. Some 17% of professional care staff report committing psychological abuse and 10% physical abuse, Prof. Laibson said. (50% of Devon Bank clients under guardianship are financially abused).
Those over the age of 50 end up paying higher interest rates, even though on average they had better FICO scores and lower default rates, Prof. Laibson said. “Middle aged people get better deals,” he said. In terms of risk-adjusted returns on investments, the young do relatively well, but the “old are doing absolutely abysmal,” paying more in fees and suffering from poor asset allocation, he said. (Especially those with trust accounts at Devon Bank.)
Prof. Laibson called for keeping things simple for clients, while still giving them a sense of control. (Then his clients better not open a trust account at Devon Bank. They don't simplify anything nor do they give their clients a sense of control. Quite the contrary, they humiliate and exploit their clients.) He called on policy makers to expand a fiduciary duty for financial advisers and expand regulations requiring power of attorney for the elderly. (Having a POA doesn't matter to Devon Bank either. If their clients have a lot of money, they'll slander the current POA and hire Josh Mitzen to abuse their clientele in order to get free reign over the money only to squander it.)
That overoptimism about mental muscle keeps people from asking for help. “We procrastinate. We don’t like complexity… We have bad memory and we don’t know the extent of our bad memory,” he said.
Monday, June 13, 2011
OHare Airport to Ronald Reagan
I have to tell you about this wonderful city of ours. First of all, I was a little wired for sound because this cab driver offered to give me a lift to the airport for half price, just a couple of dollars more than public transportation. I took the ride, of course. He also gave me one of those five hour energy drinks. OMG! My head was banging off the walls at the airport. Anyway, inside the airport, this nice gentleman pulled me out of line and asked me to step aside. A TSA agent took (what looked like a band aid) and swabbed the palms of my hands and I asked her, “What are you checking for?” She said, ‘Explosives ma’am.” She took the strip and ran it through a machine and told me that I passed and could continue on my journey. I thanked her for being so thorough. You never know……
Then, I met a very nice couple from Cleveland, OH. He said that everyone was looking and staring at me, later I looked down and noticed the top button of my blouse was undone and figured that must have been what got me that cheap cab price. I get to the security point and hand another nice gentleman my ticket and driver’s license and he says, ‘Ma’am, I want to thank you so much for keeping me and my family safe.’ HUH?! I have had the safe driver renewal for the past 12 years and a very old license because of it. I don’t get tickets and he thanked me. I thought it nice he noticed.
Then, I get to the x-ray and they pull me out of line again. They want to do a full body x-ray. I was joking with the TSA agent, telling her that everyone and their brother is going to know I wear and under wire bra. So, I had to stand there with my arms over my head while they took a snap shot. Then, I walk out of the box and I see another TSA agent frisking a man in front of me. He got let go and that’s when it was my turn. I put my feet inside the two marked boxes, held my arms straight out, gave the guy a wink and said, “Feel free.” He blushed and said, ‘I can’t do that ma’am.’ I told him that he was an awfully nice looking man and I’m giving him full permission, what’s the problem? He was blushing so hard… the woman frisked me, just my head because I was wearing my sunglasses and the metal part set off the x-ray. I think the male TSA Agent should have checked to make sure it was an underwire bra and not something a little more dangerous ;)
Now, I’m just across the river from my legislators :) And I'm starving!
Then, I met a very nice couple from Cleveland, OH. He said that everyone was looking and staring at me, later I looked down and noticed the top button of my blouse was undone and figured that must have been what got me that cheap cab price. I get to the security point and hand another nice gentleman my ticket and driver’s license and he says, ‘Ma’am, I want to thank you so much for keeping me and my family safe.’ HUH?! I have had the safe driver renewal for the past 12 years and a very old license because of it. I don’t get tickets and he thanked me. I thought it nice he noticed.
Then, I get to the x-ray and they pull me out of line again. They want to do a full body x-ray. I was joking with the TSA agent, telling her that everyone and their brother is going to know I wear and under wire bra. So, I had to stand there with my arms over my head while they took a snap shot. Then, I walk out of the box and I see another TSA agent frisking a man in front of me. He got let go and that’s when it was my turn. I put my feet inside the two marked boxes, held my arms straight out, gave the guy a wink and said, “Feel free.” He blushed and said, ‘I can’t do that ma’am.’ I told him that he was an awfully nice looking man and I’m giving him full permission, what’s the problem? He was blushing so hard… the woman frisked me, just my head because I was wearing my sunglasses and the metal part set off the x-ray. I think the male TSA Agent should have checked to make sure it was an underwire bra and not something a little more dangerous ;)
Now, I’m just across the river from my legislators :) And I'm starving!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
NOTEGA - DC Meetup
The National Organization to End Guardianship Abuse is having a meetup in DC on the 14th and 15th.
June 15th is International Elder Abuse Awareness day and I have appointments with my legislators on Capitol Hill to talk about this Devon Bank Scam, Janna Dutton and her churning buddy, Josh Mitzen.
June 15th is International Elder Abuse Awareness day and I have appointments with my legislators on Capitol Hill to talk about this Devon Bank Scam, Janna Dutton and her churning buddy, Josh Mitzen.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Janna Dutton and Susan Phelan
I just published Janna Dutton's love letters and my response to her. I need to start publishing this evidence and luckily for me, Snipped.
https://sites.google.com/site/josephludwigziarnik/home/home/introduction/EPS/loopy/will/racket/DevonBank/Transfer/sally-griffin/josh-mitzen/root-realty/sallygriffin/flood/ludwig/freeloader/financial-exploitation/trust-account/moral-line/advice/court-order/abuse/cranberry-juice/-200/hearing/war/scam/janna-dutton/susan-phelan/sally-griffin/housecall/the-big-con/josh-mitzen/josh-mitzen/lifedeath/dutton/dutton/Stooges/dutton/dutton/griffin/dutton/richard-loundy/visit/dutton/richard-loundy/devon-bank-trust-scam/sally-griffin---devon-bank/devon-bank-court-docket/elder-protective-services-scam/janna-dutton-associates/josh-mitzen---advocacy-guardianship-services/root-realty-property-management/home-instead-caregiving-agency/richard-block---devon-bank/heirs-of-devon-bank/janna-dutton
https://sites.google.com/site/josephludwigziarnik/home/home/introduction/EPS/loopy/will/racket/DevonBank/Transfer/sally-griffin/josh-mitzen/root-realty/sallygriffin/flood/ludwig/freeloader/financial-exploitation/trust-account/moral-line/advice/court-order/abuse/cranberry-juice/-200/hearing/war/scam/janna-dutton/susan-phelan/sally-griffin/housecall/the-big-con/josh-mitzen/josh-mitzen/lifedeath/dutton/dutton/Stooges/dutton/dutton/griffin/dutton/richard-loundy/visit/dutton/richard-loundy/devon-bank-trust-scam/sally-griffin---devon-bank/devon-bank-court-docket/elder-protective-services-scam/janna-dutton-associates/josh-mitzen---advocacy-guardianship-services/root-realty-property-management/home-instead-caregiving-agency/richard-block---devon-bank/heirs-of-devon-bank/janna-dutton
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Followup Study Finds Financial Abuse of Elderly Is on Rise
Older Americans are losing $2.9 billion annually to elder financial abuse, a 12 percent increase from the $2.6 billion estimated in 2008, according to "The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America's Elders."
The study, based on a comprehensive review of news articles on elder financial abuse, found that crimes involving strangers as the perpetrators made up more than half (51 percent) of reported cases of elder financial abuse, followed by crimes involving family, friends and neighbors as perpetrators (34 percent). By contrast, MetLife's study two years ago found that family members and caregivers were the culprits in most cases (55 percent). Robberies and crimes classified as "scams perpetrated by strangers" increased from 9 percent to 28 percent from 2008 to 2010. Exploitation from the business sector accounted for 12 percent of reported cases. Medicare and Medicaid fraud made up 4 percent of cases.
According to the study, which is accompanied by a consumer guide and tip sheets on preventing elder abuse, the most common abuse scenarios involved strangers who targeted victims out shopping, driving or managing financial affairs, and often looked for particular flags of vulnerability like handicap tags on cars, walking canes or the display of confusion. Crimes included cons, purse snatchings and associated physical assaults. In cases involving a person known to the victim, trusted helpers like caretakers, handymen, friends, "sweethearts," children, lawyers and others seized upon opportunities to forge checks, steal credit cards, pilfer bank accounts, transfer assets and generally decimate elders' financial safety nets.
The typical victim of elder financial abuse was a woman between the age of 80 and 89, who lived alone and required some help with either health care or home maintenance. Nearly 60 percent of perpetrators were males, mostly between ages 30 and 59.
"Our findings illustrate the dehumanization of victims that takes place in the process of financial abuse and further destruction of financial security that occurs," said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. "In almost all instances, financial exploitation is achieved through deceit, threats and emotional manipulation of an elder. In addition to this psychological mistreatment, physical and sexual violence frequently accompany the greed and disregard of financial abuse. The vigilance of friends and family can help protect elders from those who are predatory, which may, unfortunately, include strangers or even other loved ones."
"The 2010 Passage of the Elder Justice Act may bring more attention and resources to this crime leading to prevention among the expanding older population," said Karen A. Roberto, Ph.D., director of the Center for Gerontology, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which assisted with the study. "In addition, a new Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans has been established as part of the new Financial Regulatory Reform Bill and Congress continues to focus on new legislation regarding this issue."
Articles from a daily National Center on Elder Abuse newsfeed served as a primary source of information for the study. Over the three-month period from April through June 2010, 314 media reports revealed approximately $530 million in losses from all forms of elder financial abuse. Extrapolating from this figure to take account of unreported losses, MetLife estimates the annual dollar amount loss by victims of elder financial abuse in 2010 was $2.9 billion, a 12 percent increase from 2008.
To read the full report and related materials, http://www.metlife.com/mmi/research/elder-financial-abuse.html?WT.ac=PRO_Pro2_NewMMI_5-18421_T4297-MM-mmi&oc_id=PRO_Pro2_NewMMI_5-18421_T4297-MM-mmi#key .
For the ElderLawAnswers article, "Elder Abuse Web Site Offers Resources and Contacts," click here. For the article, "Identifying and Dealing With Financial Abuse of the Elderly," click here.
The study, based on a comprehensive review of news articles on elder financial abuse, found that crimes involving strangers as the perpetrators made up more than half (51 percent) of reported cases of elder financial abuse, followed by crimes involving family, friends and neighbors as perpetrators (34 percent). By contrast, MetLife's study two years ago found that family members and caregivers were the culprits in most cases (55 percent). Robberies and crimes classified as "scams perpetrated by strangers" increased from 9 percent to 28 percent from 2008 to 2010. Exploitation from the business sector accounted for 12 percent of reported cases. Medicare and Medicaid fraud made up 4 percent of cases.
According to the study, which is accompanied by a consumer guide and tip sheets on preventing elder abuse, the most common abuse scenarios involved strangers who targeted victims out shopping, driving or managing financial affairs, and often looked for particular flags of vulnerability like handicap tags on cars, walking canes or the display of confusion. Crimes included cons, purse snatchings and associated physical assaults. In cases involving a person known to the victim, trusted helpers like caretakers, handymen, friends, "sweethearts," children, lawyers and others seized upon opportunities to forge checks, steal credit cards, pilfer bank accounts, transfer assets and generally decimate elders' financial safety nets.
The typical victim of elder financial abuse was a woman between the age of 80 and 89, who lived alone and required some help with either health care or home maintenance. Nearly 60 percent of perpetrators were males, mostly between ages 30 and 59.
"Our findings illustrate the dehumanization of victims that takes place in the process of financial abuse and further destruction of financial security that occurs," said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. "In almost all instances, financial exploitation is achieved through deceit, threats and emotional manipulation of an elder. In addition to this psychological mistreatment, physical and sexual violence frequently accompany the greed and disregard of financial abuse. The vigilance of friends and family can help protect elders from those who are predatory, which may, unfortunately, include strangers or even other loved ones."
"The 2010 Passage of the Elder Justice Act may bring more attention and resources to this crime leading to prevention among the expanding older population," said Karen A. Roberto, Ph.D., director of the Center for Gerontology, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which assisted with the study. "In addition, a new Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans has been established as part of the new Financial Regulatory Reform Bill and Congress continues to focus on new legislation regarding this issue."
Articles from a daily National Center on Elder Abuse newsfeed served as a primary source of information for the study. Over the three-month period from April through June 2010, 314 media reports revealed approximately $530 million in losses from all forms of elder financial abuse. Extrapolating from this figure to take account of unreported losses, MetLife estimates the annual dollar amount loss by victims of elder financial abuse in 2010 was $2.9 billion, a 12 percent increase from 2008.
To read the full report and related materials, http://www.metlife.com/mmi/research/elder-financial-abuse.html?WT.ac=PRO_Pro2_NewMMI_5-18421_T4297-MM-mmi&oc_id=PRO_Pro2_NewMMI_5-18421_T4297-MM-mmi#key .
For the ElderLawAnswers article, "Elder Abuse Web Site Offers Resources and Contacts," click here. For the article, "Identifying and Dealing With Financial Abuse of the Elderly," click here.
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