New Law Will Help Protect Maryland Seniors

Bonnie Klem, director of Montgomery County’s Adult Protective Service Investigations department, recalls a call her office received a few years ago from a bank that wanted to report the suspected financial abuse of an elderly client.

“Our intake operator said, ‘OK, what is the victim’s name?’ and the bank said ‘Oh, no, no, no! We can’t tell you that!’” she said. “It blew our minds; we were all standing in intake and we couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to cry … It tells you how uncomfortable banks were with sharing that information.”

Three years later, Klem is hopeful that a bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly this session will put an end to the once strongly-held reservations of banks and financial institutions about cooperating with hers and other offices dedicated to protecting vulnerable seniors.

The bill, which is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) next month, requires employees of banks and other fiduciary institutions to report “knowledge of behavior or unusual circumstances or transactions,” that indicate an elder adult may be the victim of financial abuse.

The bill also requires banks to train employees to recognize the signs of financial abuse and mandates that suspected abuse cases be referred to the local adult protective services, police and state’s attorney’s offices within 24 hours, said Deborah Zuckerman, a senior legal assistant for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office who specializes in investigating elder financial abuse cases.

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New Law Will Help Protect Maryland Seniors