Financial Abuse

Scams are Being Perpetrated on Veterans, Active Military and Their Families

Published on: January 20, 2020 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“In 2018, 9.4% of all reports to BBB’s ScamTracker came from military personnel, veterans or their spouses, BBB of Metropolitan New York said.”

The scam victims who were military personnel, veterans or their spouses reported higher median losses than non-military consumers, the BBB said.

nj.com says in its recent article entitled “Veterans warned to beware of scams that target military families” that a common scam is “pension poaching,” which targets elderly and disabled veterans and their families.

Did Groucho Marx Have Estate Planning and Elder Care Problems?

Published on: September 13, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“By the time Groucho was an old man, however, he experienced significant problems in his daily activities, medical decision-making and the management of his estate. He suffered from elements of dementia, a heart attack and congestive heart failure, falls resulting in a broken hip, and after that hip was repaired, another fall and broken hip, urinary tract infections, strokes and hypertension.”

Julius Henry Marx, better known as Groucho, died 42 years ago on Aug. 19, 1977, at age 86. Groucho teamed with three of his four brothers—Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo—to become stars of vaudeville, Broadway, film, radio and television. (A fifth brother, Gummo, wasn’t part of the act).

PBS News Hours’ recent article, “How Groucho Marx fell prey to elder abuse” reports that the legal battles over Groucho’s money and possessions went on long after he died. The unrest of his last few years is familiar to adult children concerned with the well-being of their elderly parents.

Stan Lee and Peter Max’s Elder Abuse Cases

Published on: July 15, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

There are definitely advantages to all the perks of fame and fortune that come with being a celebrity. However, aging celebrities are just as vulnerable as regular people, when it comes to elder financial abuse. The major difference is that their stories are reported in the news.

Recent news stories about both the late legendary Marvel comic book creator Stan Lee and ‘60s psychedelic artist Peter Max are sad reminders that elder abuse can happen to anyone, no matter how famous or talented they are. There are a few striking similarities in what happened to Peter Max and Stan Lee, as reported by Next Avenue in the article “Stan Lee and Peter Max: What to Learn From Their Elder Abuse Cases.”

Both of these highly creative and successful men were taken advantage of by people who they trusted and who they were close to. In Stan Lee’s case, Keya Morgan, his former business partner and caretaker, was arrested for elder abuse, false imprisonment and grand theft of an elder dependent adult. The family says Lee was isolated from the family and then moved out of his home. There is now a restraining order against Morgan.

Elder Abuse Numbers Continue to Increase

Published on: June 25, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The number of seniors being exploited or abused quadrupled from 2013-2017. Tracked now by a number of financial institutions that submit data to FinCEN, a federal government watchdog agency, elder abuse has become a national epidemic.

More than 180,000 Suspicious Activity Reports submitted by banks to the federal government were analyzed by the Consumer Financial Projection Bureau (CFPC). For professionals working in estate planning and probate law, the numbers are not surprising. They routinely hear tales of exploitation by scammers, family members and caregivers from families who are seeing elderly loved ones being taken advantage of, says ABC 15 Phoenix’s recent online report, “Protecting seniors from financial predators.”

Families reach out to these attorneys who specialize in senior issues because they're concerned that a grandparent or parent is being scammed.

Financial Elder Abuse in the Spotlight in Virginia

Published on: March 8, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Virginia is taking steps to protect seniors and other vulnerable individuals against financial exploitation, by giving financial institutions more resources to prevent this growing crime.

With bipartisan support, the state House and Senate of Virginia have passed versions of State Bill 1490, which encourages financial institutions to have more leeway in making decisions to protect the elderly, when it suspects exploitation is occurring. However, for now, the State and the Senate have yet to reconcile the two bills to make it into the state’s laws.

“This bill addresses the issue of financial exploitation of older Virginians, which has been on the rise in recent years,” said the sponsor, Senator Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham.

Fake Law Firm Website Scamming Seniors in Houston

Published on: July 31, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Here’s another reason to meet with your estate planning attorney face-to-face. An overseas-based scam is targeting the elderly with a website that uses photos and content stolen from real law firm websites.

A website purporting to be an estate planning law firm is the subject of a lawsuit from the Houston Bar Association, which is trying to get the site shut down. According to the Houston Chronicle, the fake firm, which calls itself Walsh & Padilla, is targeting elderly people and offering estate planning services.

In reality, the ABA Journal notes, in its article, “Fake law firm website uses real lawyers' pictures to fleece consumers, bar lawsuit says,” the scheme’s website appears to be operated from South Africa and uses photos of lawyers taken from real law firm websites. The scammers mail letters to elderly people telling them they’ll be getting life insurance proceeds, after they provide their bank account numbers and other financial details. One senior was scammed out of $14,000, the lawsuit says.

Guardian Abuse is a Growing Problem

Published on: November 18, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Guardianship is a fairly straightforward and basic function. A person who is not able to handle her or his own affairs, for any number of reasons, is assigned a guardian by the court, who is to act on their behalf for financial, medical and care-taking purposes. The guardian is charged with putting the interest of their ward first, and the guardian is entrusted with a great deal of responsibility.

However, as the Wall Street Journal reports, in "Abuses Plague Guardianship Systems Across the Country," the financial abuse of elderly people by guardians is rampant throughout the United States.

Court appointed guardians with no family relationship to the elderly wards too often act in their own interests and deplete the wealth of the wards.

More States Seeking New Legislation to Protect Elderly Investors

Published on: August 21, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

After a long and high profile life of philanthropic endeavors, socialite Brook Astor died in 2007 with an estate worth $200 million. Two years later, her son Anthony Marshall was convicted of stealing millions from her. Astor suffered from dementia, and Marshall was paying himself from her assets. While not all families enjoy this level of wealth, the fact pattern is not all that unusual. A large and growing number of Americans suffer from dementia-type illnesses and a equally large number of them will be taken advantage of by family members.

States are now trying to provide greater protection for elderly investors, according to a recent Reuters article titled “Protecting dementia sufferers from scammers gains ground in U.S.” Retail brokers – in three states thus far, have been permitted to help deter scams against people with dementia.

The laws, which are being examined by other state legislatures, allow brokerages to halt an older client’s request to transfer money to others (at least temporarily) if a wealth manager suspects that his or her customer may have dementia and may be unknowingly be the victim of a scheme.