Lawyers and financial advisers are seeing more cases of adult children turning to their parents for financial help because of the troubled economy -- and more cases where those children cross the line.
In some cases, adult children are making a grab for assets held by parents who are too fragile mentally or physically to make decisions that are in their own best interests. In other instances, parents may feel pressured to hand over money or property, or even change their will, for fear of losing a more-precious asset: a child's love.
"My law office gets many calls every week about elder financial abuse." says Steven Peck, an elder-law and nursing home and abuse neglect attorney who practices in Van Nuys, California and who can be contacted toll free at 1-866-999-9085.
In one suit, settled before reaching trial, a granddaughter allegedly convinced her grandmother, who was terminally ill and on morphine at the time, to put her house into joint tenancy and cut out a brother who was due to inherit half. When the grandmother died, the granddaughter quickly sold the house and used some of the cash to pay off about $100,000 in debts.
In another case a mother set up a trust that she appointed her eldest son to oversee upon her death or incapacity. Her assets were supposed to be distributed equally among five sons after she passed away, but the eldest son withdrew about $600,000 without the knowledge of the other beneficiaries.
The younger brothers became suspicious when he made several big-ticket purchases even though he was known to be having business troubles. In a settlement, the eldest agreed to forfeit his share of the remainder of the trust's assets.
Some family members who are caregivers, particularly those who live in, may be tempted to dip into an elderly person's bank accounts when they have power of attorney.
More than half of all financial-abuse cases against older Americans involve family members or caregivers, according to the MetLife Mature Market Institute.
Experts recommend that bank, credit-card and investment statements be regularly reviewed by an outside party the senior knows and trusts.
