Elder Rights and Elder Abuse

When adult children are the abusers in an EA case, often one of the causes cited is “a sense of entitlement’.

A sense of entitlement to their inheritance, that is.

I have personally heard the following comments from adult children (and they were not made in jest!):

- Mum should take public transport; she spent too much money on taxis. Our inheritance has dwindled
- My parents should have sold their property for $300,000 more, we (siblings) would have been $xxxxx better off.
- Mum died 2 years ago, now the old man (dad) has a new woman in his life. We are not going to standby without a fight. What belongs to my parents is ours!
- I wish mum would stay home more instead of taking numerous trips overseas. She has been like that since dad died. How inconsiderate of her. Doesn’t she realize that she is squandering our inheritance!

The older persons in the cases quoted above have mental capacity. They are not suffering from dementia or other forms of disabilities. One can imagine how they would be treated if they were incapacitated in some ways!

Sure, we love our children. And, in most cases, they are the major ones we think about leaving our inheritance. But, surely what belong to us is ours to use till we are gone? Maybe I have been on another planet; and somehow missed some events that led to the change. And, what we own belong to our children after we reach a certain age. If so, would someone please fill me in on what went on?

How great is the problem of elder rights and elder abuse? Just do a quick check in cyberspace and you will notice a growing number of ads. By attorneys offering their services on these two issues.