The Sociopathic Caretaker: Preventing the Financial Exploitation of Your Parents

Elderly financial abuse is rampant and so varied in its forms that elders and heirs need to be far more vigilant than they may ever imagine. My hope is that this book will make seniors and their honest loved ones more aware of potential fraud and embezzlement. Seniors can take some obvious steps to safeguard their estates, and heirs will become more aware of the signs that physical or financial abuse is occurring. The earlier you find out, the more likely that you will be able to organize an effective counter.

Most children inevitably witness decline of our parents, who are entitled to a far more dignified end of life than many actually experience. This book serves as a warning of what you may face; It will be very useful if you come to believe that a caretaker or relative may have committed fraud; and it will serve as a guide should you need to pursue a probate challenge of an estate.

My wife’s sister employed what has come to be called a Power of Attorney con. She used undue influence to coerce her cognitively impaired mother to alter her will, her trust, her Power of Attorney, and even the deed to her house. My sister-in-law assumed complete control over her mother’s finances, throughout confusing her new found powers and her desire to tap into her mother’s money with her fiduciary responsibility to her mother and to the estate.

The steps we took are involved, complex, and require attention to detail as well as a monetary commitment. Once we retained an attorney, and we were lucky to retain a great one, we recorded events in the probate process as they occurred. This book therefore reads as a log of actions and thoughts, but I think that readers contemplating such actions will appreciate the details.