The right representatives can protect you from financial elder abuse

The term “elder abuse,” so commonly used today, evokes images of caregivers physically mistreating the elderly. However, there is much more to elder abuse than physical mistreatment.

The Government of Canada has defined elder abuse as “any action by someone in a relationship of trust that results in harm or distress to an older person. Neglect is a lack of action by that person in a relationship of trust with the same result.” Given this broad definition, it is not surprising there are several different types of elder abuse, including financial, psychological, physical, sexual, systemic and neglect. The different forms of abuse do not necessarily occur in isolation. Rather, a victim of elder abuse may experience several forms of abuse at the hands of one or more trusted individuals.

For this discussion, the focus is on a common form of elder abuse—financial elder abuse—and how appointing the right representatives in incapacity documents, while capable, may help prevent someone from falling victim to financial elder abuse, or at least mitigate the risk.

Financial elder abuse is as it sounds: it relates to an elder’s finances. There is often a marked decline in the victim’s financial net worth without any benefit to the victim. Financial elder abuse can include:

  • Theft of assets

  • Unauthorized use of bank cards or credit cards

  • Living in the elder’s residence, or any other real property they own, without paying reasonable expenses or rent

  • Obtaining loans or gifts through manipulation, coercion or other tactics

  • Improper transfer of real estate

  • Misuse of authority granted in financial incapacity documents, such as the power of attorney

Signs that may indicate financial elder abuse can include:

  • Unusual financial activity

  • Changes in legal and/or financial documents

  • Isolation and influence by another person

  • Physical and emotional changes

  • Suspicious relationships

When the right person is managing an incapable person’s finances, this representative will both be in a better position to spot signs of abuse and have the power to take action.

Take, for example, a recent unreported motion in Ontario regarding the management and personal care of a 98-year-old woman who was allegedly subject to financial elder abuse. In this case, the attorney who had been acting under authority granted by a power of attorney since 2021 learned that this authority had been revoked by a new power of attorney that appointed a hired caregiver and that the circumstances surrounding the signing of this new document were suspicious.  

While the case has not been fully adjudicated at the time of writing, it is fair to say that the attorney the elder had previously appointed “had her back” and took appropriate action to protect her by temporarily stopping the caregiver from controlling her finances until there can be a full trial of the issues.

If I am ever in a position where I am vulnerable to abuse, I know I want my chosen representatives to act in my best interests. That is why I have selected my representatives carefully—not just for their ability to manage my affairs, but also because I trust them wholeheartedly to have my best interests at heart.

 Author: Valerie Markidis

Kyra