The study is a follow-up of MetLife's 2009 "Broken Trust: Elders, Family, and Finances" and examines the prevalence and impact of elder financial abuse in America today. It demonstrates how these crimes continue to decimate incomes, impact the health and well-being of its victims, and fracture families. Yet it still is underreported, under-recognized, and under-prosecuted.
Elder financial abuse continues to the “Crime of the 21st Century,” according to a recently published MetLife study on the financial abuse of the elderly, “The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America’s Elders.” The study shows that elder financial abuse falls into three types of crimes: occasion, desperation and predation. Additionally the vulnerabilities of aging increase the risk of elder financial abuse, and there is a continued lack of focus (and prosecution) on the perpetrator.
Elder Americans are now estimated to lose $2.9 billion every year, with significant patterns in the nature of these abuses.
Most cases of abuse, 51 percent, are perpetrated by strangers, with close family and friends accounting for 34 percent. Crimes classified as “scams” committed by strangers accounted for 28 percent of all financial abuses, business-related exploits made up 12 percent, and Medicare and Medi-cal fraud amounted to the most loss per case but only accounted for 4 percent of total cases. The most common perpetrator was likely to be a man between ages 30 and 59. When family or friends were involved, the study found that most cases involved forged checks, stolen credit cards, drained bank accounts, and transferred assets.
The most common victims are women, who are twice as likely to be financially abused as men, especially in their 80’s. Most cases found that it was when the victim’s disabilities were outwardly apparent due to the use of a cane, handicap tags, or simple confusion, but those living alone and in need of health care or home maintenance also are at risk.
The Elder Justice Act became law on March 23, 2010, and has significantly raised the national focus on elder financial abuse. Provisions of the Act are outlined in the study, which you can download here. Two of the provisions include required immediate reporting to law enforcement of crimes in a long-term care facility and civil monetary penalties for failure to report and a provision for penalties for long-term care facilities that retaliate against an employee for filing a complaint against or reporting a long-term care facility that violates reporting requirements.
California has its own Elder Abuse Act entitled Elder Abuse And Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act or EADACPA, which found at Welfare & Institutions Code Section 15600, et seq.
Elder abuse comes in several forms such as financial, physical or emotional abuse, and often the elderly (65 years of age or older) do not realize it is happening to them. Unfortunately, the older adult is often incapable of obtaining help and protection to stop the abuse against them. EADACPA provides incentives through enhanced civil remedies to redress the acts committed against the elderly. EADACPA provides abused elders enhanced means to compensate them for the injuries and abuse they suffer (those injuries can be financial, physical and emotional). It is the legislative intent that this will act as both a deterrence for future abuse in hopes of giving the older adult a peaceful state of mind while they enjoy their retirement years.
Many times, family members must get involved in order for the abuse to stop, as the older adult is incapable of removing themselves from the situation. If the older adult has the necessary mental capacity to execute legal documents (i.e. revocable living trust, durable power of attorney or an advanced health care directive), they can give a trusted family member (or private professional fiduciary) the ability to manage their finances and/or living arrangements immediately, in an effort to stop the abuse. If an older adult no longer has the mental capacity to execute the aforementioned legal documents, the family regularly initiates a conservatorship through the courts in order to protect their elderly loved one.
Please visit our website for articles on conservatorships and planning for incapacity.
Reference: Metlife.com (June, 2011) “The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America’s Elders” (study publication)