Prominent New York case draws attention to financial abuse of the elderly

Financial exploitation of the elderly is a problem that has received growing attention in recent years. A recent post to the excellent New York Times blog, "The New Old Age," considered how elusive detection of such abuse is, in light of the pending case in New York regarding the estate of Brooke Astor, her son, and the son's attorney.

According to the piece, "[m]ost cases involving suspected financial exploitation of the elderly . . . are never prosecuted and probably never discovered." Here are a few reasons why:

1. The elderly person may be isolated from others who would be in a position to detect abuse. Isolation may be from poor health and mobility, shrinking social circle, or imposed by the abuser.


2. Defining financial abuse can be elusive. Some action may indeed be abusive, but others may be well-intended, but just done in poor judgement. The Times post notes that, "[t]rying to specify exactly what behavior constitutes elder abuse . . . remains a shadowy, insufficiently investigated subject."

3. Abusers can be family members, so then the abuse is often unreported because of the closed circle of those involved. A study cited in the post found "that the most likely perpetrators are family members, friends and caregivers, who feel entitled to take funds because of their established relationship."

4. In our legal system, recourse is often expensive and may take a long time. If the funds stolen are not significant (say, over $10,000), it may be cost-prohibitive to litigate under civil law or persuade the district attorney to prosecute under criminal law. Further complicating matters, with an elderly victim, they may not wish to give testimony (or be mentally competent to), or they may have died before a case can be resolved.

Fortunately, many states, including Wisconsin, have recently enacted tougher statutes against financial exploitation of elderly or other at-risk adults. In addition, agencies and task forces have been formed or empowered to address abuse.

Whether through government, non-profit entitities, or personal vigilence, the awareness and prevention of elder abuse (of all types) is improving, but requires involvement on everyone's part.

As the Times post ends with a quotation from the president of NAELA (National Acadamy of Elder Law Attorneys): "A sensational case like this, or the Terry Schiavo case, hits the hot button and helps make people aware that there could be a problem and that they should protect themselves."