What Is Elder Financial Abuse?

• July 25 2018
• |   Elder Abuse

Often, with elder financial abuse you hear about unusual arrangements where someone contacts a person who has dementia or cognitive issues and they get them to give their credit card information. It could be a home caretaker or someone who is in charge of taking care of the individual who uses their relationship with the senior to their advantage for financial gain or to obtain money from them that they are not entitled to.

Financial elder abuse is the exploitation of an elderly person. It results in losses of more than $2.6 billion a year. This is an area that is common and insidious because the elderly are an easy target for telemarketers, people in charge of them, and even family members who might forge signatures in order to change wills and trusts and sign checks.

It is a serious risk and given an individual’s cognitive issues such as dementia, they can become an easy target.

Q: Has your law firm ever had a case that included elder abuse, elder neglect and elder financial abuse?

Yes. As experienced Nevada elder abuse attorneys, we have handled cases of all varieties and sometimes all types of elder abuse can happen in the same case. It is a situation of control. It can happen with a caregiver who is able to exert control over the finances, right on to physical abuse in order to keep control and keep the person fearful and afraid so they can continue the financial abuse or exploitation.