Elder Money Competency and Stealing
Family Caregivers Need to Take Charge
Hello again. Carolyn and Mikol here. We hope all of you are starting your New Year out well. We are working on our own health, bike riding and jogging in the unusually mild weather we are experiencing.
We have been seeing many issues lately around the competency of elders and their money. Here is a true story about the rip off of a 90 year old that we find quite shocking.
The incident involves George, who is generally doing well, but has a few memory problems. His wife, Gloria worries about him. He has a full time caregiver from a qualified agency. He goes to the gym every day. The caregiver drives him there and to the bank, his errands and lunch. He keeps some cash on hand for his own use.
One time after George went to the bank, Gloria wanted to know what had happened to the $300 he withdrew. He couldn't find it. The next time, he said he had put $1000 in his "secret stash" drawer in his dresser but it turned up empty.
Later George withdrew another $1000. This time, $300 of it was missing almost immediately. Gloria thought George had just misplaced it.
Then Gloria got a call from her credit card company informing her that someone had tried to charge $15,000 worth of merchandise to her account. Because the amount was unusual, it triggered the call. She had enough sense to cancel the credit card. She didn't have enough sense to see what was getting very plain.
The caregiver was stealing from them.
When I got the call about this case, I was more than a little frustrated.
Gloria felt sorry for the thief. The caregiver's husband had walked out on her and the caregiver had been telling them she was struggling with money. Gloria didn't want to call the police because she "didn't have the heart."
