When you send your loved one into a long-term care facility, you expect them to receive safe and supportive care. Unfortunately, older adults tend to be more vulnerable to financial exploitation when they’re living in a nursing home community. Financial exploitation can happen when someone improperly or illegally uses your loved one’s money, property, or assets for their own personal benefit. Exploitation can come from other residents and employees, a caregiver, or even a stranger.
One of the biggest reasons that older individuals living in nursing homes are more vulnerable to financial exploitation is because they depend on others for many of their daily needs. Things like shopping, paying bills, banking, and managing medications are all things that your loved one may need assistance with from caregivers.
Even worse, elderly patients with physical limitations, cognitive impairment, dependency, and isolation can find it harder to recognize financial abuse when it happens.
Bank Account Use
One of the most common forms of financial exploitation is unauthorized access to a resident’s bank account. A nursing home resident may give staff members permission to manage their finances. They may even hand a caregiver their debit card to make purchases for things like groceries or other necessities. If that person starts making unrelated purchases, transferring money to themselves, or even withdrawing cash, the resident is being financially exploited.
Unfortunately, many residents find it difficult to detect unauthorized charges on their bank account. This is because the caregiver may provide them with limited access to their financial statements. It’s always a good idea, as a family member, to go over your loved one’s finances to check for any unauthorized charges.
Misuse of Cash and Other Belongings
The misuse of cash can be one of the hardest forms of financial exploitation to notice. Once it’s removed from the resident’s room, it’s hard to track. Residents may keep cash available for smaller purchases and expenses. If their money repeatedly disappears without explanation, it’s a key warning sign that there may be financial exploitation taking place.
It’s also important to note that financial exploitation can involve personal property rather than just cash alone. Electronics, jewelry, clothing, collectibles, and other valuable possessions can be used or even taken without permission. In a lot of cases, residents may not immediately realize that these items are missing.
Coercion Could Be to Blame
Sometimes a caregiver or another resident can coerce a nursing home resident into giving away their money. For example, they may repeatedly ask the resident for financial assistance, a gift, or even a loan. If the resident depends on that caregiver or other person for companionship and care, they may feel guilty, intimidated, or even threatened into giving them the money.
Power of Attorney Abuse
It’s fairly common for nursing home residents to appoint another person to act as their agent under a power of attorney. While this can be extremely helpful when it comes to assisting the resident with managing their financial matters, it also creates an opportunity for abuse. The person who’s acting under a legal power of attorney can have access to the resident’s bank accounts, property, investments, and other financial resources.
Any time that their authority is used to benefit themselves instead of the resident, it’s a cause for concern. Some key warning signs include unusual transfers, changes in beneficiaries, unexplained withdrawals, property transfers, and even significant purchases.
Alterations to Wills and Other Legal Documents
Financial exploitation doesn’t always involve cash or personal belongings. Sometimes it can involve important financial and legal documents. Older adults are especially vulnerable to being pressured into changing their will, beneficiary designation, power of attorney, trust, or other document for the benefit of another person.
Anytime that you notice sudden changes, it’s especially concerning to look deeper into the situation. This holds especially true if the resident has cognitive decline or doesn’t appear to understand the changes that are being made. While every person has the right to make their own financial decisions, any unexplained rapid changes can be the result of deception, pressure, or even a diminished ability to understand the decision that they’re making.
Financial and Billing Scams
Unfortunately, nursing home residents tend to be the target of both financial and billing scams. These include things like charitable organizations, investments, insurance, medical services, and other financial matters that are fraudulent. The resident may receive a fraudulent invoice or be persuaded to pay for a service that they actually never requested.
These scammers can use letters, phone calls, emails, or even in-person interactions to obtain the resident’s money or even their personal information, like their Social Security number. They may use that personal information to make purchases, open accounts, or even commit identity theft.
Residents who have difficulty hearing, recognizing unfamiliar individuals, or remembering information are more vulnerable to these types of scams.
Noticing the Key Red Flags
As a family member, it’s important to be mindful of any changes to your loved one’s finances or legal documents. Things like unexplained transfers from their bank account or withdrawals should raise concern.
If they’re missing valuable possessions, jewelry, or cash that you knew was there, it’s another red flag. Unpaid bills, despite having adequate financial resources to handle them, can signal misuse of their funds.
Any sudden changes to their power of attorney, beneficiaries, or even their will are a red flag. Any new people becoming involved in their finances or any unusual purchases should signal a problem.
If you notice that your loved one becomes distressed or secretive when it comes to talking about their financial matters, they may have a problem they simply can’t explain.
While a single warning sign doesn’t necessarily mean that a caregiver, staff member, resident, or other person interacting with your loved one is financially exploiting them, it should warrant further investigation. Speaking with an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer like those at GDH Law can help.
As a family member, you can take a few different steps to help protect your loved one’s finances while they’re in a nursing home. Taking the time to regularly review their bank and credit card statements for any unusual transactions can help. You may even want to establish automatic bill pay, spending limits, and transaction alerts.
