{"id":109,"date":"2011-12-01T14:22:45","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T14:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.caassetprotection.com\/blog\/?p=109"},"modified":"2023-02-01T17:59:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T17:59:20","slug":"protect-your-loved-ones-from-elder-financial-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/protect-your-loved-ones-from-elder-financial-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect Your Loved Ones From Elder Financial Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">As our parents and family members age, they may become unable to manage their financial affairs without assistance.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there are many people in the world who will target the elderly to exploit them financially.\u00a0\u00a0 Elder financial abuse is a growing concern, and as we can see from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwd.com\/beauty-industry-news\/people\/bettencourts-guardianship-remains-unchanged-5379065\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this news story about French L&#8217;Oreal heiress Lilliane Bettencourt<\/a>, it can affect more than just the bank account\u2014especially if Alzheimer\u2019s or dementia is a factor.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Lilliane Bettencourt, 88 years old, is heiress to the L\u2019Oreal cosmetics fortune and is worth a reported 23.5 billion dollars.\u00a0 A medical report obtained by the court revealed that Ms. Bettencourt suffers from moderately severe Alzheimer\u2019s disease and dementia, ruling her mentally unfit to manage her affairs.\u00a0 The court gave control of her affairs to her daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, and two grandsons.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Francoise first brought this to the courts three years ago, after her mother allegedly gave gifts totaling approximately $1.23 billion to a society photographer.\u00a0 That resulted in an agreement that Bettencourt\u2019s attorney, Pascal Wilhem, would manage her finances.\u00a0 Her daughter returned to court again after it was discovered that Bettencourt had invested almost $240 million with a client of Wilhem\u2019s.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.preventelderabuse.org\/elderabuse\/fin_abuse.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse<\/a>, elder financial abuse spans a broad spectrum; from taking money or property, promising lifelong care in exchange for money or property, to fraud and telemarketing schemes.\u00a0 The perpetrators can be family members who have substance abuse problems or stand to inherit and feel justified in taking what they believe will rightly be theirs at a later time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">There are also predatory individuals outside of the family who seek out vulnerable seniors with the intent of exploiting them.\u00a0 They may profess love, seek employment to gain access, or use positions of trust or respect to coerce vulnerable elders.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Some things to watch for as signs of elder financial exploitation, as listed on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncea.aoa.gov\/Main_Site\/FAQ\/Basics\/Types_Of_Abuse.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NCEA website<\/a>, include:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">1. Sudden changes in bank accounts or the inclusion of additional names on an elder\u2019s bank accounts or signature cards.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">2. Abrupt changes in a will or other financial documents.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">3. Unexplained transfer of assets, disappearance of funds or valuable possessions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">4. The sudden appearance of previously uninvolved relative claiming their rights to an elder\u2019s affairs and possessions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">If you have a loved one that you fear is nearing incompetence or is at risk for elder financial exploitation, please <a href=\"http:\/\/www.caassetprotection.com\/contact-us.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">call our office today<\/a>.\u00a0 We can help form a solid asset protection plan to protect you and your family members from exploitation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As our parents and family members age, they may become unable to manage their financial affairs without assistance.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there are many people in the world who will target the elderly to exploit them financially.\u00a0\u00a0 Elder financial abuse is a growing concern, and as we can see from this news story about French L&#8217;Oreal heiress&#8230;  <a href=\"\/blog\/protect-your-loved-ones-from-elder-financial-abuse\/\" class=\"more-link\" title=\"Read Protect Your Loved Ones From Elder Financial Abuse\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12,142],"tags":[3,72,169,170],"class_list":["post-109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asset-protection","category-news-and-current-events","category-real-property","tag-california-asset-protection","tag-elder-abuse","tag-incompetency","tag-lilliane-bettencourt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":602,"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caassetprotection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}