Seniors Week 2009 - Elder Abuse
Older Australians can be easy targets for financial abuse, not only by strangers but sadly by members of their family or close friends. This Seniors Week (15 – 21 March 2009), Public Trustee NSW is urging older Australians to take greater care with their financial and legal affairs.
Protect yourself from elder financial abuse, Public Trustee NSW urges
An elderly lady in a nursing home had a regular visitor. She gave him access to her bank account to buy her supplies. The friend proceeded to withdraw amounts of money for his own personal use. It was months before her family found out.
Older Australians can be easy targets for financial abuse, not only by strangers but sadly by members of their family or close friends. This Seniors Week (15 – 21 March 2009), Public Trustee NSW is urging older Australians to take greater care with their financial and legal affairs, by offering seniors a power of attorney appointment as the first measure to protect themselves against potential mismanagement of their financial affairs.
Financial abuse can take the form of a misuse of funds, forgery of documents, embezzlement, stealing, denial of access to funds, forced changes to financial arrangements and the use of the elderly person's money to purchase items without their knowledge.
Peter Whitehead, Public Trustee, says, “If the financial abuse has been caused by a family member, many older parents will not confront their adult children for fear of retaliation such as losing contact with them, or limited or no access to grandchildren.
“Older Australians are much more vulnerable to the long term effects of financial abuse than younger people as they often will not be able to recoup losses at this later stage of life. Many older people may not have the financial, emotional or intellectual stamina to face an issue and actually do something about it, or they may not have the resources to protect their legal rights.”
Mr Whitehead encourages older Australians to see a professional and independent expert when planning for later life, and be aware of the risks that can arise out of powers of attorney being in the wrong hands.
SOURCE: Public Trustee NSW Australia
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