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Bennett Blum, MD - Elder Financial Abuse
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Elder Financial Abuse and Exploitation
Elder abuse is a social problem of increasing magnitude in the United States, and
recent research suggests that elder abuse affects 15-20% of populations in parts of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Millions of Americans aged 65 or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone they depend on for
care or protection. Elder abuse costs U.S. businesses tens of billions of dollars per year.
Elder financial abuse, also known as financial exploitation,
is a common precursor to physical abuse, elder homicides, neglect and abandonment, emotional abuse, and other crimes.
Financial abuse may occur through numerous methods, including the misuse of powers of attorney and guardianships, illegal
transfers of property, misuse of a position of trust and authority, consumer fraud, identity theft and outright theft.
Nobody knows the exact incidence or prevalence of elder financial abuse, but it is estimated there may be five
million victims per year. Most cases are not reported to authorities. As few as one out of twenty-five
cases of financial abuse, and only one out of fourteen cases of all forms of abuse, are reported. (For more background
information about elder financial abuse, click here: http://www.elderabusecenter.org/, or here: www.senate.gov/~commerce/hearings/0804blu.pdf).
Common concerns arising in elder financial abuse involve issues regarding: 1) the
relationship between the elder and supposed perpetrator; and 2) biological factors that may impair the victim’s ability
to know and understand what was happening. If a relationship was manipulated in order to defraud or financially exploit
the victim, it is important to determine whether the psychological and social elements of undue influence were present. If there was no misuse of a relationship, then the financial abuse is usually considered to be a
form of theft or consumer fraud – ex. identity theft, Internet scams, embezzlement, etc.
Because illness, disability, and medication use is common within the elderly population,
it is often necessary to determine whether the victim’s mental capacity or competency is (or was) impaired. Medical expertise is not always required to make this determination. For more information,
read about the PARADISE-2 protocol at: mental capacity. This protocol is currently taught and used throughout much of the United States, Canada, and Europe.
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