Elder abuse - not just physical
Posted on October 03, 2018
With the recent call for a Royal Commission into aged care, there is now closer scrutiny on elder abuse. This comes as a relief to many who have borne witness to family members being the victims of harmful acts from people in whom they have placed trust.
Elder abuse can take several forms, be it physical, emotional, psychological and financial. An example of financial abuse is where money or property belonging to an elderly person is taken improperly through the misuse of a Power of Attorney. This Power of Attorney document enables a person (in this case the elderly victim) to appoint a ‘trusted’ individual to manage their legal and financial affairs. With this document, the nominated Attorney has authority to access bank accounts (into which an elderly person’s pension may be paid), withdraw money from superannuation and, moreover, buy and/or sell real estate. It is a wide-ranging power and if it falls into the wrong hands may result in dire consequences. Denying a person access to their own funds may also constitute a level of abuse.
Another example of financial abuse may involve forcing a person to change his/her Will. We often see clients who bring along their family members (typically children) to their meetings. It is incumbent upon us to ensure these clients are not being forced into making alternations to their estate planning documents and that their instructions are of their own volition. We will therefore ask to see the clients alone to ensure they are happy for their other family members to attend the meeting. We will also reiterate to those family members that we need to make sure all instructions are received from the client without their commentary or input as this could be viewed as ‘coercion’.
In order to mitigate the occurrence of elder abuse it is important that estate planning documents be drafted carefully and correctly.
If you would like more information on Powers of Attorney, Wills and Estate Planning generally, please contact Lynch Meyer Lawyers.