Financial Abuse of Elders & Other At Risk Adults - Part One

The Crime of the 21st Century

The financial abuse of elders, and other at-risk adults, is a societal plague that impacts persons in all social classes and economic strata: from a childless spinster living alone in her government subsidized studio apartment, to Brooke Astor in her opulent Park Avenue home surrounded by “caring” family members. The annual financial loss by victims of elder financial abuse is estimated to be $2.9 billion, a 12% increase from the $2.6 billion estimated in 2008. Women are twice as likely as men to be victims of elder financial abuse. Most victims are between the ages of 80 and 89, live alone, and require some level of assistance with health care, other activities of daily living, or home maintenance. Victims of elder abuse have a 300% higher risk of death when compared to those who have not been abused.

A 2011 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that 14.1% of non-institutionalized older adults had experienced physical, psychological or sexual abuse, neglect or financial exploitation in 2010. Other studies estimate that one in six adults over the age of 65 has been the victim of a financial crime. Upwards of 5 million American adults over the age of 65 have been victims of elder abuse in all its forms. The “dehumanization of victims that takes place in the process of financial abuse . . . . creates an avenue to further victimization . . . . [T]he interrelationship between financial, physical, sexual and emotional victimization of elders is undeniable.” See The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation and Predation Against America’s Elders (hereafter referred to as the “2011 MetLife Study” (available at http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/2011/mmi-elder-financial-abuse.pdf).

In the weeks ahead, we will investigate the scope and definition of elder financial abuse and exploitation; commonly cited reasons for this societal plague; the perpetrators of elder financial abuse; the detection and reporting of elder financial abuse; the remedies typically available where elder financial abuse has occurred; and finally, preventative measures that can be taken to forestall or eliminate elder financial abuse. 2013 is “The Year of Elder Abuse Prevention” (sponsored by the Federal Administration on Aging). I look forward to educating our blog readers – and the multi-disciplinary allied professionals who serve our elders – in the weeks ahead, which is a critical first step towards stemming the rising tide of elder abuse.

Kristen M. Lewis, Esq., Member of the Special Needs Alliance and Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel,

Comments

[June Showfety]

Kristin,

can you tell me the states with a statute that authorizes a cause of action for pretermitted heirs prior to the death of the decedent? this is another aspect of elder financial abuse, where one child gets the will changed. the remaining children do not have a cause of action until after the death in NC, a tort action for interfering with an inheritance. I have been told in some states there is a statutory right of action.

Thank you.

[Kristen Lewis]

We have not done a compreshensive state survey, so I cannot confirm or deny such a statute in N.C. Perhaps some of the other N.C.-based LWP members could weigh in on this question?