Financial Abuse of the Elderly

Suzanne E. Luna, (Attorney at Law, Law Office of Suzanne E. Luna, PC) has recently published her article entitled Financial Crimes Against the Elderly, Prob. & Prop., Jan./Feb. 2008, at 35.

Here is an excerpt from her article:

Financial exploitation of the elderly is rampant. Although many agencies and private caregivers are reputable and honest, a cottage industry has cropped up as the need to care for the elderly has increased at a staggering pace. The barriers to entry into this field are insignificant – a couple of sets of scrubs to look official, white nursing shoes, and a cell phone. Most nonmedical caregivers or “sitters” who help around the house with cleaning and meals do not make that much money per hour working for an agency, so there is a huge incentive for the entrepreneurial-minded among them to set up their own shops through which they can keep double the hourly rate without paying for such agency overhead as taxes and insurance. Many are legally unsophisticated, so taxes and insurance are not even considered necessary!