There are more and more stories being written every day about Elder Abuse. It has grown to staggering numbers and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight at the moment. And it isn’t isolated to any one specific area of the country, economic condition, or any other specific area. It is prevalent everywhere and the numbers are increasing.
Elder abuse costs Americans an estimated $2.9 billion annually. The expectation is that these numbers are only going to increase as the scams targeting the elderly become more and more sophisticated. This is according to Forbes, “After SAFE Act Passage, The Battle Against Elder Financial Abuse Remains Far From Over.”
The primary focus of the Senior Safe Act is to encourage financial institutions of all kinds to play a larger role in the fight against elder financial abuse. The law, which was modeled after the Senior$afe program created in Maine, requires financial institutions to train employees on detecting activities that may indicate elder abuse is occurring. If the employees are properly trained, the Senior Safe Act will provide a reporting process and liability protection for those who report the possible abuse. It is thought that the liability protection would make those individuals reporting the possible abuse more proactive.
However, there are still some problems with making this happen in a large way. Advisors state they are reluctant to report any client who seems to be suffering from mental deficiencies or elder abuse. The problem, advisors say, is that they are not trained and don’t feel confident in making a judgement about competency. Some court cases have put the onus on the advisor when selling certain products or strategies. But advisors lack both the training and the ability to make a medical diagnosis of this magnitude about their senior clients. Without the ability to identify competency, it is very likely that any reporting will only take place well after the elder financial abuse has taken place.
The extremes are easier to identify, those that are clearly incompetent to make such decisions. It’s the seniors that are in the middle, where there is the majority, that are hard to identify. And what if the advisor gets it wrong? Are there going to be civil suits created against the advisor and the institution or false accusations? There are still a lot of questions about how they can be more proactive and still be protected within the law.
Another issue that arises from this initiative is that family members or friends are typically the ones who commit elder financial abuse. When this is the case, the elderly victim usually does not want to press charges, fearing that the person will become angry with them and withdraw their emotional support. Being emotionally dependent upon the same person who may have perpetrated financial abuse puts the elderly person in a very difficult situation.
Elder abuse prevention, financial or otherwise, should start years in advance. It should start at the very first signs of declining physical and mental health. It should begin with a plan for managing financial assets and having the proper legal documents in place, including a will, power of attorney, general durable power of attorney, healthcare directive and other estate planning documents.
By being proactive with an estate planning attorney while the individual is still relatively well and healthy can prevent many abuses from ever impacting the elderly person. When proper planning is done, it significantly increases someone’s odds they will create protections that will be crucial later in life. Your estate planning attorney can help make sure that your estate plan is properly constructed so you and your family are protected.