Financial Abuse
Nursing home residents can frequently become the target for financial abuse. Financial abuse is improperly or illegally using another individual’s money or property. Nursing home residents are often vulnerable because they are incapacitated, either physically or mentally, and rely upon others to handle their financial affairs. Financial abuse of a nursing home resident by a staff member of the nursing home can be as simple as stealing cash out of the resident’s wallet to something as complex as arranging to handle the resident’s financial affairs and taking advantage of the resident’s finances. There may be a financial arrangement, whether legal or informal.
Some common forms of financial abuse are:
- Mishandling financial affairs
- Cashing a resident’s check and keeping all or part of the money
- Scams
- Theft of money
- Forging a resident’s signature on Deeds or other legal documents
- Misusing a resident’s property or possessions
- Deceiving a resident to sign legal documents, such as a Deed or Will
- Improper use of guardianship, conservatorship, or power of attorney
A nursing home resident may not ever be aware that someone is taking advantage of them. Since they are often less cognitive and may have memory or communication problems, they may not even be believed if they do report suspicion of financial abuse. Some signs you can look for to detect potential financial abuse:
- Unexplained charges on a credit card
- Unexplained withdrawals from an ATM
- Unexplained checks written to an individual or company
- Unexplained transfer of money
- Changes to a Will
- Changes to beneficiaries on Life Insurance or other accounts
- Changes to Power of Attorney or other legal documents
- Missing possessions of the resident, such as cash, jewelry or other valuables
Family members should visit the nursing home frequently and look over the resident’s accounts and possessions from time to time. If the resident is incapacitated and a family member or loved one has a Power of Attorney and is responsible for the resident’s financial affairs, the resident’s financial accounts should be monitored on a regular basis. Any unusual activity should be discussed with the resident and the financial institution. Many times, nursing home residents are unable or unwilling to report the abuse themselves and are not believed, depending upon the circumstances. If you even suspect that your loved one is a victim of financial abuse, you should report it to the nursing home and to the appropriate law enforcement agency. If you suspect your loved one has been the victim of financial abuse at a nursing home or other facility, call Wagner Hughes, LLC for a free consultation at (404) 900-6979.