Elder Abuse

Elder abuse can take the form of physical or financial abuse. Click here for more information about physical abuse of a person living in a nursing home or group home.

Financial elder abuse occurs too often in our society. Friends and relatives may suspect financial exploitation of an elderly person or a vulnerable adult by friend, a caregiver or family members. Elder abuse includes theft, financial exploitation, misappropriation of assets, or unduly influencing a vulnerable person to do something that is not in their financial best interests.

Examples of financial abuse include:

• Convincing a person with dementia or alzheimers disease or memory loss to sign deeds giving real estate away.
• Convincing a vulnerable adult to open up certain financial (bank, brokerage, investment) accounts, change the ownership of financial accounts and give away significant amounts of cash.
• Using a power of attorney to steal or gift away the assets of the elderly person.

A power of attorney document authorizes an agent to act on another individual’s (the Principal’s) behalf. The agent must be trustworthy and must act in the best interest of the individual who signs the power of attorney giving the agent the authority to act.

Asimou & Associates can represent the person who is the agent under a Power of Attorney, to ensure that the Agent understands the duty imposed upon them and understands the ongoing obligations to act only in the best interests of the person who gave them the power of attorney.

Asimou & Associates can also represent others who suspect that an Agent under a Power of Attorney is abusing their power or breaching their fiduciary duty to the Principal. Litigating abuses of powers of attorney can include:

• Suing the Agent under a a power of attorney for improperly accessing and stealing money from an elderly or incapacitated adult.
• Suing the Agent who used a power of attorney to improperly transfer property to himself.