Seniors Who Tolerate the Lesser of Two Evils

Jun 21, 2016

By Estate Planning, Elder Law, and Guardianship Attorney Rick Law of the multi-generation law firm at Law Elder Law.  Rick is the founder of the Estate Planning Center at Law Elder Law, serving seniors, boomers, and their families in suburban DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Will and Cook and other counties in Illinois.

Seniors with dementia are more likely to put up with financial exploitation rather than report it. They know that they are vulnerable, but they don’t want to turn in their abuser. They don’t want their child or grandchild arrested, so they’ll just put up with it.

Sometimes, the relative exploiting the senior is the only person that can help them continue to stay in their own home. Often, the senior doesn’t drive anymore and they depend on that son or daughter to take them everywhere.

The worst part is when children take advantage of the situation, thinking that money will belong to them anyway at some point, so they start using the senior’s money as their own.  They move into the parent’s house and live off their parent’s social security. Sometimes they will threaten the parents with putting them in a nursing home (although they’d never do that since they are living off of their social security checks).

Oftentimes other family members will call the police and say, “I think my brother is taking advantage of my mom and I don’t like it one bit.”

More often than not, though, according to Officer Aschenbrenner, when the police talk to mom, she says, “No, I want him to live here. I’m fine.” Sometimes she will simply say, “I don’t want to make things worse than what they are.” At that point, there is nothing the police can do.

In our experience, there are too many occasions where older people will tolerate abuse because it is the lesser of two evils. That is probably the number one reason why the abuse is never reported, because the need of the senior to live at home is so great.

If you’re ready to start getting your estate in order and secure your assets for the “worst-case” scenario, please give our office a call at 800-310-3100. Your first consultation is absolutely free.  We’ll let you know what steps you need to take, right now, to protect yourself and your family.  Call now.

Sincerely,

Rick L. Law, Attorney, Estate Planner for Retirees.

Rick has been named the #1 Illinois elder law estate planning attorney for the past 8 years in a row by Leading Lawyer Magazine. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, AARP Magazine, TheStreet.com, and numerous newspapers and articles. Rick is the lead attorney for Law Elder Law, LLP, focusing in Estate Planning, Guardianship, and Nursing Home Solutions. His goal is to give retirees an informed edge when it comes to dealing with an uncertain future.  Get flexible retirement strategies that work during good times and bad, plus information on how you can save your home and assets from being used to pay for long term care.  Call 800-310-3100 for your free consultation now!