Agewise: Knowing who to trust

Q: With all of the scams out there today, I’m afraid to give away any personal information. I don’t know who to trust. How do I know when someone is trying to take advantage of me?

C.A.

Answer: Although anyone can be the target of a scam, older adults 50+ are more likely to be the victims of fraud or identity theft.

The reasons for this could be numerous. Many of today’s elderly were brought up to be more positive and trusting of one another, which may make them an easier target. Often, an elder who doesn’t want to be viewed as helpless by their family or caretakers will keep quiet about things that trouble them. These things and other circumstances put older adults in our community at risk, and while the government can do some things to enforce laws against scammers, protecting our personal information often comes down to our own vigilance. Here are some general tips to protect you or an elderly loved one:

1. Be informed about common scams, like landline phone scams. One great resource is StopFraud.gov, a website operated by the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force with tips and information for elders and their caregivers.

2. Keep an eye on financial activity. If you or your loved one are online, many email scams involve sending money or providing credit card information, so keeping tabs on your relative’s financials can help you spot any potential fraud as it happens. Operate by the rule, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

3. Sign up for identity fraud theft protection, which provides real-time monitoring of financials and makes restoration after a theft attempt much less of a panic.

4. Make sure caregivers are trustworthy. Unfortunately, identity theft is not always committed by strangers. If you are the adult child of a senior who needs care, be on the lookout for suspicious behavior and make sure documents and other items containing personal and financial information are locked away where they cannot be easily accessed.

One way to protect yourself or a loved one from predators is to learn the latest tricks that are being used to steal your money. Fraud and Identity Theft: Protecting Yourself from Con Artists is a free seminar being hosted by the public library in Clemmons. The class will be taught by Glenn Kirk of Summit Credit Union. He is a frequent presenter of seminars for businesses and associations all across North Carolina. He has also appeared on WFMY TV as a resource for banking and financial items of interest.

In this class, you will learn how to protect your Social Security card and your identity from being stolen. Other topics covered include email fraud and phone scams, recovering from ID theft, and what to do when your bank or the IRS calls. The class will be held in the Clemmons library auditorium on April 23 at 3:30 p.m., and is part of Money Smart Week at the library. The same class is being held at the Kernersville Branch Library on April 24 at 2 p.m.

Q: How much should I really be preparing for end-of-life expenses?
 
B.T.

Answer: We plan for so many things in our life, from college to having kids. Something we don’t plan for, or just don’t want to think about, is the care that we may need later in life.

Every adult is at risk of being unable to make health care decisions. Meaningful conversations with your loved ones about what you value in your personal health care will lead to higher quality care and much less stress for your family when a health care crisis arises.

April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD). Each year, this day focuses on the education and awareness of health care decision planning. NHDD is a great time to think about creating your own advance health care plan. An advance health care directive is the document that helps an adult name someone to make health care decisions when the person cannot do so. In addition to creating planning documents, this is a good time to think and talk about the different kinds of health care and treatment one wants and does not want.

The Hospice Care Center provides Advance Care Planning Workshops every Tuesday at different locations that serve 13 counties, providing the opportunity to learn about the living will and health care power of attorney. In Winston-Salem, that workshop takes place on the first Tuesday of every month at 1 p.m. in the Hospice & Palliative Care Center. You can also schedule a walk-in consultation or get your questions answered by calling 336-768-6157, ext. 1622 or 704-637-7645. While donations are welcome, these services are provided at no cost to you.

The National Center on Law and Elder Rights (NCLER) provides free case consultation assistance for attorneys and professionals seeking more information to help older adults. Topics include: Advance Planning, Elder Abuse, Guardianship, Health/LTSS, Economic Security, Supported Decision-Making, Consumer Protection, and Housing. Please contact ConsultNCLER@acl.hhs.gov for assistance.

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Agewise: Knowing who to trust

New York Lawyers’ Fund $10.6 Million in Payouts Mostly Due to Handful of Lawyers

Every state has its own version of a fund that lawyers pay into that serves to protect clients from those who mismanage funds, according to Law.com. New York’s version is the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. The number of claims being filed with the fund has been growing, with 2017 being the second-highest single-year payout since the fund was created 35 years ago.

The paid claims for financial losses by lawyer misconduct was at $10.6 million last year. The fund, an independent public trust, is mainly financed by attorney registration fees. The fund reimburses clients for the “losses caused by dishonest conduct of former New York State lawyers,” including theft of estate assets, settlement proceeds, and real estate escrow funds, in addition to unearned legal fees paid to an attorney who falsely promises legal services.

The payouts from last year largely went to cover misconduct by a handful of attorneys. This includes $1.3 million for Marc Dreier’s Ponzi scheme with fake promissory notes and the embezzlement of client funds, $2.8 million for personal injury lawyer Stuart Schlesinger’s theft of settlement money and $400,000 for Michael Lippman’s theft from various real estate and estate planning matters.

The highest payout year was 2015 when $12.3 million was given out. In total, the 2017 funds covered 87 now suspended, disbarred or deceased lawyers. Of those, 70 percent of the $10.6 million was for the actions of ten former attorneys.

This is a trend that fund trustees have been noticing. In their annual report, they indicate that most of the losses come from solo practitioners who are generally male and middle-aged. Their misconduct is heavily influenced by alcohol, drug abuse, and gambling but is also affected by economic pressures, marital, professional, medical, and mental illness problems. The trustees are recommending measures to detect and prevent excessive abuse. One proposal is to require banks to give notice to the Lawyers’ Fund when an attorney trust or escrow account overdrafts. Another proposal is to ban overdraft protection on attorney trust and escrow accounts. While they decide which actions to take, the claims against the fund continue to grow.

The report states there are 351 claims filed with the fund for last year, claiming $29.2 million in losses. In 2016, there were alleged losses of $42.8 million.

See the full list of the suspended, disbarred or deceased lawyers whose clients were reimbursed for their misconduct, go here.

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New York Lawyers’ Fund $10.6 Million in Payouts Mostly Due to Handful of Lawyers

Rhode Island assisted suicide bill will create the perfect crime.

Margaret Dore

Providence, RI -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought assisted suicide legalization efforts in many states, including Rhode Island, made the following statement in connection with the hearing on bill H 7297 seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in that state.

"There is a bill pending before the Rhode Island House of Representatives, which seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined," said Dore. “The bill seeks to legalize these practices for people with years, even decades, to live.”

“The bill is sold as assuring patient choice and control. But when you look at what the bill actually says and does, the bill is a recipe for elder abuse.” Dore explained, "The patient's heir, who will financially benefit from the patient’s death, is allowed to actively participate in signing the patient up for the lethal dose. After that, no doctor, not even a witness, is required to be present at the death. If the patient objected or even struggled, who would know? The bill will create the perfect crime.”

"Other states are pushing back against assisted suicide,” said Dore. “This year, Utah passed a bill clarifying that assisted suicide is a crime. Last year, Alabama passed a bill banning assisted suicide. Two years ago, the New Mexico Supreme Court overturned assisted suicide: Physician-assisted suicide is no longer legal in New Mexico.”

“The Rhode Island bill seeks to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia for people who are ‘terminal,’ which is defined as a doctor’s prediction of less than six months to live.“ Dore added, “In real life, such persons can have years, even decades, to live.”

“Doctors can be wrong about life expectancy, sometimes way wrong." Dore explained, "This is due to actual mistakes and the fact that predicting life expectancy is not an exact science. A few years ago, I was met at the airport by a man who at age 18 had been diagnosed with ALS and given 3 to 5 years to live, at which time he was predicted to die by paralysis. His diagnosis had been confirmed by the Mayo Clinic. When he met me at the airport, he was 74 years old. The disease progression had stopped on its own.”

“If the Rhode Island bill becomes law, there will be new lethal paths of elder abuse, which will be legally sanctioned,” said Dore. “People with years, even decades to live, will be encouraged to throw away their lives or have their lives thrown away for them. Even if you like the concept of assisted suicide and suicide and euthanasia, the proposed bill has it all wrong.”

For more information:

1. Margaret Dore, Legal/Policy Analysis of H 7297, Rhode Island House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare, memo available here: Attachments available here: 

2. Margaret K. Dore, “Death with Dignity’: What Do We Advise Our Clients?,” King County Bar Association, Bar Bulletin, May 2009,  (available here).

Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation working against assisted suicide and euthanasia, worldwide

www.choiceillusion.org
1001 4th Avenue, Suite 4400
Seattle WA USA 98154

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Rhode Island assisted suicide bill will create the perfect crime.

Nashuan pleads guilty to exploitation

Ashton Haven (right)

NASHUA – When he met a divorced woman with five children through an online gaming site a couple years ago, longtime Nashua resident Ashton Haven believed the “complete family life” he’d so longed for was finally within reach.

Attorney Jeff Odlund, one of Haven’s two lawyers, told Superior Court Judge Charles Temple that his client’s case is one in which “Ashton was placed in a situation where he wanted what he saw as having a family.”

“While it is not an excuse for the choices he made, I think it explains how the case happened … it contexualizes it,” Oldlund said, referring to the series of felony charges leveled 13 months ago against Haven, accusing him of financially exploiting an elderly relative by stealing thousands of dollars from her accounts.

Haven, 29, of 120 Monroe St., appeared before Temple in Hillsborough County Superior Court South Monday afternoon to plead guilty to three of the seven charges he’d faced in connection with the theft of more than $27,000 from the elderly woman, for whom Haven had durable power of attorney.

Temple, after hearing arguments and sentencing recommendations from Odlund and co-counsel Amanda Henderson, and the prosecutor, state Assistant Attorney General Brandon Gerod, took a roughly 15-minute break before pronouncing sentence.

He ultimately sentenced Haven to 1-3 years in state prison, with 90 days of the minimum suspended for three years after his release.

Coupled with the agreement that Haven be given credit for the 96 days he’s already spent in jail, brings his total minimum stand committed time to just under six months, a resolution that Temple said he believes reconciles “a number of aggravating and mitigating factors in this case.”

Haven, formerly known as Amy Haven, was indicted in May 2017 on a total of seven charges, which, beside the count of financial exploitation of an elderly, disabled or impaired adult and the two counts of theft by deception, included two additional counts of theft by deception and two counts of theft by unauthorized taking.

Those four charges were dropped by prosecutors as part of the agreement.

The attorneys had come to a capped plea agreement in the case, meaning that each side presented a sentencing recommendation to the judge. Odlund asked for a sentence of 1-2 years in state prison, all deferred for one year and then suspended for two years, while Gerod recommended that Temple sentence Haven to 1-3 years in state prison.

On the other charges Haven agreed to plead guilty to Monday – two counts of theft by deception – both sides recommended a term of 2-4 years in state prison, all suspended for three years.

Both also agreed that Haven be credited with the 96 days of time already served, and that he be allowed to report to state prison on April 6, to allow him to give two weeks notice to his present employer, a local coffee shop.

The terms of the agreement also order Haven to pay $27,600 in restitution to the victim. He must also enroll in any educational, treatment or counseling programs recommended by prison officials, and obtain “further rehabilitation,” Temple said, “so you can finally address the demons that have haunted you for the better part of your life.”

The judge referred to Odlund’s account of his client’s childhood, in which he said Haven was “a victim of serious violence” that led to a diagnosis of PTSD in adulthood.

Haven grew up in the area, Odlund said, and had no criminal history until this case. “My client is also transgender, and was on hormone therapy … but that stopped when he went to Valley Street Jail” after his arrest.

Losing his father to a heart attack at a young age, Haven was “suddenly thrust into the position of caring for” the elderly relative, Odlund said.

“The responsibility fell to him … frankly, being called upon to be her power of attorney was beyond his capabilities, but he was the only adult in the home,” he said.

Once Haven met the woman with five children, he began using “the misappropriated funds” for “frivolous, unreasonable” purchases of goods and services, Odlund said.

Gerod, the prosecutor, said “a substantial amount of money was spent on restaurants, mainly fast-food places for the woman’s children.

Meanwhile, Gerod said, the victim, who had been diagnosed with dementia five years earlier, trusted Haven, but otherwise “she simply did not have the cognitive abilities to realize what was happening.” She therefore trusted that Haven “was doing everything in her best interest,” he said.

The woman “is really the most vulnerable victim you can have,” Gerod continued. “She had no ability to realize what was happening … unable to consent to anything.”

He also noted the “horrible condition” that authorities found the house in when they began investigating the case, and that Haven neglected paying utility bills so long that services were eventually shut off.

Odlund said that the fact Haven was “comfortable living in conditions like that” shows that he “has deep psychological issues” that need to be addressed.

Haven alternated between stoic and emotional as he watched the proceedings from the defense table.

Asked if he wanted to address the court, Haven spoke briefly with his attorneys then rose from his seat.

“I just want to say I’m truly sorry,” he began, his voice breaking. “I understand now, that at the time, I didn’t see what was going on … now I see it,” he said between pauses.

“I am truly sorry.”

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Nashuan pleads guilty to exploitation

Suspended Las Vegas lawyer Jacob Hafter dies at age 42

Controversial Las Vegas lawyer Jacob Hafter, who made unsuccessful bids for elected office in recent years and was suspended by the Nevada Supreme Court in November, died Tuesday at the age of 42.

Fellow lawyer Robert Draskovich remembered Hafter on Wednesday as a “talented but eccentric attorney.”

The Clark County coroner’s office has ruled Hafter’s death a suicide.

According to a GoFundMe page established to raise money for Hafter’s burial costs, he was married and had four children. The page raised more than $22,000 after its creation Wednesday. 

Rabbi Shea Harlig said Hafter was charitable and had helped various Jewish organizations and synagogues financially. Harlig had known Hafter since Hafter was in high school but had not talked to him in years.

Harlig said that with Hafter, everything was “black and white.”

“When he felt there was an injustice, nothing stopped him,” the rabbi said.

License suspension

Hafter was suspended for six months by the high court for lying under oath and making derogatory public comments about a district judge. The suspension was partly a response to a complaint from the State Bar of Nevada.

The complaint stemmed from comments Hafter made in 2014 about then-District Judge Valorie Vega after she denied his request to alter a two-week civil trial schedule to accommodate a Jewish holiday.

“He went all out to fight it,” Harlig said.

Hafter accused Vega of religious discrimination in a Facebook post. He also told a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter at the time: “Either she’s anti-Semitic or she’s biased against me. In either case, she shouldn’t be the judge in this case.”

The high court found that “there was no basis in fact for Hafter’s comments.”

At the time, Vega was presiding over a medical malpractice case that Hafter was defending, and Hafter was running for a different seat on the District Court bench.

Shortly after the high court’s decision was handed down, Hafter, who had asked for no discipline, took to Facebook:

“This state is so crooked. It is so sad,” he wrote. “We have attorneys who steal from clients and they get stayed suspensions and slaps on the hand. I try to follow my religion and defend myself in a private litigation matter and the Supreme Court suspends me for 6 months, effective immediately. What about all the clients I have? I represent clients that no other attorney will take. I do it, often, without charge or for delayed compensation. I am a solo practitioner. How is that fair to the public?”

The suspension also followed allegations against Hafter of engaging in fraudulent conduct and making misrepresentations in Nevada legal proceedings to evade a $137,000 judgment against his law firm in Arizona.

Hafter had been licensed to practice law in Nevada since 2005, according to the State Bar’s website. He focused on representing doctors.

On April 9, he posted on Facebook that he was packing up his office. The post included the hashtag, “#wouldratheruberthanpracticelawinNevada.”

Past litigation

Before the discipline was imposed, Hafter represented a 4-year-old girl in a lawsuit aimed at forcing UNLV to reopen its maternal HIV program after the program was suspended.

“They’re holding the program in abeyance at the risk of children getting the health care that they need,” Hafter said in October.

In 2015, Hafter filed a lawsuit claiming that Nevada’s medical marijuana registry violates several constitutional rights, including the right to due process. Representing an anonymous medical marijuana patient, he argued the case last year in front of the state Supreme Court. The court ruled that the system is constitutional.

In 2012, a federal judge barred Nevada prisons from feeding “common fare” menu items to inmates who adhere to kosher diets after Hafter argued that the menu violated religious rights.

Hafter, a former paramedic, ran as a Republican for Nevada attorney general in 2010 but lost in the primary.

He said he often donated his services to people who were in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

“I am someone who believes people need an advocate,” he said during the campaign. “I advocate whether I am paid or not.”

Hafter also lost a race against incumbent District Judge Susan Johnson in 2014.


February letter
In a February letter to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, attorney Jacob Hafter said his suspension by the Nevada Supreme Court left him “devastated.”

“I had to give away all my cases. I am unemployable and have been blackballed from the industry,” he wrote. “I do not have the resources, nor the energy to fight this anymore. I also have no desire to practice in a profession that is regulated by justices who would rather silence someone who speaks out against an elected member of the judiciary, than pursue justice. Hence, my legal career is coming to a close.”

The federal court imposed a concurrent suspension based on the Nevada court’s order. The suspension was due to end next month.

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Suspended Las Vegas lawyer Jacob Hafter dies at age 42

Assisted living facilities sued for discriminating against people who use wheelchairs

A group of related assisted living communities in New York City as well as the state's governor, health commissioner and Department of Health are defendants in a lawsuit alleging they discriminate against people with disabilities who use wheelchairs.

The New York City-based Fair Housing Justice Center, a former assisted living resident and her brother, who is her power of attorney and healthcare proxy, are the plaintiffs in the April 12 action.

The resident alleges that she was prohibited from returning to one of the facilities, where she had resided for five years, after she left for two months to be treated for a urinary tract infection and subsequently used a wheelchair some of the time. She continues to live at the skilled nursing facility where she had gone for rehabilitation, according to the lawsuit.

Defendants in the lawsuit include the Village Housing Development Fund, Elm York Assisted Living in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, Madison York Assisted Living in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens and Madison York Assisted Living in the Corona neighborhood in Queens. The plaintiff lived in an adult home operated by the Village Housing Development Fund, which is related to the other communities, according to the complaint.

Representatives for the assisted living facilities did not respond to requests for comment by McKnight's Senior Living's publication deadline.

The FHJC, in a newsletter posted online, said it conducted an “undercover testing investigation” of the defendants' properties (in 2017, according to the lawsuit) after receiving allegations of discrimination from residents. The complaints, according to the lawsuit, included being prohibited from using wheelchairs and other mobility devices throughout facilities and in common areas and being warned that they could be sent to a nursing home if they became too reliant on such equipment.

The center had testers pose as family members of prospective residents, and conversations were recorded, according to the lawsuit. The investigation, the nonprofit organization said, “demonstrates a pattern and practice of discrimination against people who use wheelchairs.” Testers frequently were told that residents were required to be ambulatory in case of an evacuation.

The facilities are licensed by the state to provide housing and services to people with disabilities, and all have elevators, according to the FHJC.

“As soon as a resident begins to use a wheelchair, the adult home claims they are inappropriate for assisted living and sends them to a nursing home,” Jota Borgmann, senior staff attorney at Mobilization for Justice, said in the newsletter article. Attorneys from that organization as well as AARP Foundation Litigation are representing the plaintiffs. “And, worse yet, New York state shamefully maintains that it is perfectly fine for adult homes to discriminate against people who use wheelchairs,” Borgmann added.

The FHJC alleges that the state “promotes disability discrimination through its regulations and policies.” Adult homes are allowed to ban wheelchair users, and the state Department of Health regulations say that assisted living facilities “should not accept nor retain any person who … is ‘chronically chairfast,' ” according to the complaint.

The regulations have not been updated since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Affordable Care Act and the amendments to the federal Fair Housing Act as well as since the Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. L.C., the FHJC said.

“People with disabilities who use wheelchairs must have equal access to housing opportunities and assisted living services that are available to others,” FHJC Executive Director Fred Freiberg said in the newsletter article. “The state needs to enact and enforce regulations that promote non-discrimination in adult care facilities and assisted living programs so that they fully comply with federal civil rights mandates.”

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Assisted living facilities sued for discriminating against people who use wheelchairs

Perceived Risk Hides Potential Upsides for Skilled Nursing Investors

The headlines for the skilled nursing sector include such uplifting topics as bankruptcies, lawsuits, and declining occupancy — to name just a few — and are enough to make any investor think twice about putting money in the industry.

But “the perceived risk is higher than actual risk” in the sector, at least according to one panel discussion at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) conference in Dallas in March.

“A long-term investor can see the bright future ahead, in that skilled nursing remains the most cost-effective option, as opposed to hospitals, for example,” Ben Firestone, senior managing director at Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors, told Skilled Nursing News. “And the government is going to continue to fund it in some way, shape or form.”

Skilled nursing compelling in long-term

Despite the headwinds in the skilled nursing industry, there may be more smoke than fire, at least with regard to risk, Frank Small, managing director of health care at private equity firm GMF Capital, said at the NIC event.

“I guess from our perspective and our experience, the perceived risk is higher than the actual risk,” he said when asked by Firestone how he explains skilled nursing headwinds to equity investors.

This is because returns remain strong, with cap rates in the sector usually coming in around 12.5%, with some fluctuations over time, Firestone explained to SNN. This compares favorably to cap rates in other commercial real estate classes such as retail, which is seeing at least as many issues as skilled nursing and far lower cap rates.

“I don’t know another asset class on a stabilized level, where you’re not changing something in the business plan, where you can reap those kind of returns,” Firestone said of skilled nursing.

Even though a recent survey from the CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) U.S. Healthcare Capital Markets Group indicated that SNFs were near the bottom of investors’ wish list for 2018, the investors Small deals with are looking at the sector from a long-term perspective, he said at the NIC conference.

“From the perspective of the capital we talk to, they’re looking at it on a 10 or 15 year basis,” Small said on the panel. “So if they look at it with HUD still available and flowing. You got a long-term asset matched with long-term liability, and the cash flow dynamic is compelling.”

Working past bad press

Even with the bad press skilled nursing has been getting over the past few years, the market is strong, Firestone told SNN.

“What the market is saying is that they’re okay accepting that risk for the returns — they’re wiling to pay for these assets,” he said. “And there is so much demand right now, not only for stabilized transactions but also non-stabilized deals… the price per bed of skilled nursing for deals that are not stabilized is actually going up.”

But the sector is undeniably a chancy one, notorious for thin margins and low reimbursement. That’s led to premium valuation for portfolios, because individual property risk can be diversified through such acquisitions, Firestone said. Though an individual property could see a performance downturn, purchasing 20 properties increases the likelihood of a downward performance being offset by others improving.

“We have diversifcation at the asset level, so that any of these individual problems that would tackle one facility’s performance financially can be offset by another’s good fortune,” Firestone said.

Operators are also a crucial part of managing the risk, Small noted at NIC.

“A lot of it… candidly, is spending a lot of time with the operator and understanding are they the right operator for that asset in that market,” he said.

Operators need incentives to provide quality care, and though the sector will have to go through “some purges and resets,” the nursing home business will not be done away with entirely, Firestone said. Investors are betting that despite short-term hits, occupancy will bounce back as the population ages, allowing good operators to survive and thrive in the medium-to-long run.

“The savvy investors out there are able to pick their spots, make bets, hedge against short-term stress or adversity, and come out victorious in the long run, with sustainable, profitable practices and portfolios and compaines that care for our aging seniors,” Firestone said.

Written by Maggie Flynn

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Perceived Risk Hides Potential Upsides for Skilled Nursing Investors

Vast Majority Of Elder Financial Abuse By Guardians Can Be Prevented, Experts Tell Senate

Senate Aging Committee Chair Susan Collins

The vast majority of elder financial abuse by guardians can be prevented, a panel of four experts unanimously told a Senate Aging Committee hearing today.

Among the low hanging fruit they recommended:

• Enacting state laws to provide more often for less restrictive arrangements than guardianship, such as assisted decision making,  for seniors and others with disabilities.
• Tell the individual under care and family members that a guardian has been appointed, what the guardian's responsibilities are and how to report guardian abuse.
• Mandate guardians tell the courts when people under their care have become able again to make their own decisions.

As an example, stroke victims can quickly recover that ability, noted Nina Kohn, principal drafter of the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act.

A guardian should be appointed only when a person cannot make their own decisions and is at risk of harm without the aid of someone to oversee their affairs, said Kohn, a Syracuse University law professor.

An estimated 1.5 million adults with billions of assets are currently under guardian care.

Senate Aging Committee Chair Susan Collins said less restrictive care can reduce the likelihood that someone could take advantage of a senior or misuse their assets.

The Maine Republican pointed to a Nevada guardian who was indicted last year on more than 200 felony charges, after having been given the authority by the courts over 400 individuals in 12 years.

Elder financial abuse by  guardians can range from outright theft to excessive fees, such as when an attorney charges his or her normal hourly rate for grocery shopping, the hearing was told.

“There is a significant risk potential to an older adult when a family or friend is appointed as a guardian. However, this risk grows exponentially with a guardianship agency who serves multiple adults under guardianship,” said Denise Flannigan, a guardianship supervisor for an area agency on aging in Western Pennsylvania.

A review of 27,000 guardianship cases in Texas regularly found unauthorized withdrawals from accounts; unauthorized gifts to family members and friends; and unsubstantiated and unauthorized expenses, Texas Judicial Council Executive Director David Slayton told the committee.

He added that in over 43% of the cases, guardians failed to meet all court-mandated reporting obligations, including providing information that a bond had been obtained, an inventory of assets in the estate and an annual accounting of transactions.

“Persons under guardianship should enjoy supported decision making whenever possible and have their rights restored in part or totally with all deliberative speed,” said Virginia Tech Gerontology Center Director Pamela Teaster.

The loss of rights makes it imperative guardianship is done right, said Aging Committee Lead Democrat Bob Casey.

Full Article & Source:
Vast Majority Of Elder Financial Abuse By Guardians Can Be Prevented, Experts Tell Senate

“Abuse of Power: Exploitation of Older Americans by Guardians and Others They Trust.”

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“Abuse of Power: Exploitation of Older Americans by Guardians and Others They Trust.”