Financial Abuse
An elderly patient in poor health, particularly if they are suffering from a degenerative mental health problem such as Alzheimer's disease, can be a target for financial abuse. Their privacy can be invaded by willfully malicious individuals out for private gain or by institutions hoping to take advantage of their condition to over-charge them for services or mismanage their funds. If you suspect someone you love is a victim of financial abuse while in a nursing home or other facility, you should take steps to immediately document the situation and secure the counsel of a personal injury attorney who is familiar with nursing home negligence cases.
Signs of Financial Abuse
It can be difficult to trace financial abuse of nursing home patients due to poorly kept or missing records. For this reason, nursing home patients and their loved ones responsible for their care should monitor their financial statements and purchases carefully for signs of abuse.
Some factors that may indicate financial abuse of nursing home patients include:
- Large withdrawal activity on their accounts during a brief period of time
- Frequent transfers of monies between accounts
- ATM activity by a homebound patient
- Bank statements that no longer come to the patient but are mailed elsewhere
- Unpaid bills or bills not paid on a regularly expected schedule
- Lack of new clothing or other amenities that a patient can easily afford
- Missing personal belongings of value, such as jewelry, art or furs
- Signatures on checks or other documents that do not match the patient's
- Isolation of the patient from his family or other loved ones
- Changes in wills or deeds, especially the existence of new benefactors who are unknown to the patient's family
It is important to investigate immediately if any such signs of financial abuse are present in your loved one's environment.
What You Can Do
If you suspect someone you love has been taken advantage of, there may be complicated financial issues to address. A personal injury lawyer acquainted with financial issues in nursing home negligence can be of great value in assessing your nursing home negligence case. If you suspect theft, embezzlement, or other serious financial abuse you should contact local police authorities and the state Department of Facility Services, Elder Abuse, or other applicable government body to make a complaint immediately. A personal injury lawyer can advise you of criminal culpability issues, if any, in your nursing home negligence case. In some situations he may advise you to file a civil suit against the nursing home or nursing home employee who may be guilty of financial abuse.
