Past financial abuse of elders can leave caregivers similarly strapped

Nearly 90 percent of caregivers lost an average of $36,000 when their loved ones were financially abused. Those caring for past victims are spending significantly more, which is negatively impacting their own retirement savings.

Such are the findings of a recent survey by Minneapolis-based Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America of people who are providing recent financial, emotional or social support for nonspousal persons 65 or older, or in the next five years could be in a position to provide such care.

The survey of 1,000 found the average caregiver spends more than $7,000 per year and provides more than 10 hours per week in noncash support (driving to appointments, delivering meals, social engagement, etc.). Meanwhile, caregivers for past elder abuse victims reported spending nearly $8,400 annually in direct cash and noncash support— 56 percent higher than the roughly $5,400 spent by those caring for elders with no history of financial abuse.

The study caught my eye, as a source for a former elder abuse article — Tammy Winger of Yuma, Colorado — just messaged me about the Nevada guardian April Parks who was indicted on charges of racketeering, theft, exploitation and perjury. Also arrested were Parks’ business partner, her husband and her attorney.

“The whole scheme is to get control of a vulnerable person’s assets, have them admitted to a nursing home or other facility, clean them out financially and move onto the next,” Winger said.

Winger is more than familiar with elder abuse. A “deadbeat boyfriend” of her 89-year-old grandmother who was living in Sequoyah County was stealing the money of her grandmother, who was suffering dementia, and her grandmother’s brother was helping the guy, she said.

On one occasion, the boyfriend and brother — despite a durable power of attorney that the elderly woman’s daughter held in Colorado — loaded her grandmother in the car on a 110-degree day in Oklahoma and drove her to banks miles away to transfer money and open new accounts in her brother’s name. Her grandmother suffered a heart attack the next day and nearly died.

Ultimately, Winger secured legal authority for her grandmother and had safely “hidden her away” in the memory care arm of an assisted living facility. But by that time her grandmother died in December 2013, Winger and her mother had spent thousands in attorneys’ fees and the boyfriend had made off with some $25,000.

Sadly, financial elder abuse very much remains a widespread issue. Here’s some important advice from a 2010 article, which still applies:

•Involve at least two persons if you need help with your financial affairs. If you give one person power of attorney over your finances, have a copy of your monthly bank statements mailed to another for careful monitoring.

•Versus adding family as joint account holders or signing over deeds to them, make them only co-signers on accounts, complete transfer-ondeath deeds on real estate and payable-on-death designations on accounts and other investments, which also avoid probate. If you put children on your deeds or bank accounts, they— and their creditors— may have access to those assets.

•If you have an in-home paid caregiver, maintain a locked mailbox or have your mail delivered to a post office box. Keep checks in a safe place and never sign a blank check.

•Send a certified letter to the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion), requiring they freeze your accounts so they can’t be accessed. Abusers won’t be able to open new accounts, like credit cards, loans and apartment leases, under your identity.