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The Most Overlooked (Real) Abuse Area
I am an elder law attorney and have been practicing for more than two decades. The evil I am seeing right now in this area is more than I have ever seen, and it will just get worse. I am seeing adult children cut ties with their parents over money — big money or little money, it doesn’t matter — leaving senior parents to navigate old age alone. I am seeing seniors that have been physically and sexually abused. (One dementia client was whipped by her husband with a fly swatter, leaving huge whelps on her legs because he was frustrated with her behavior. Another dementia client contracted a sexually transmitted infection because her husband is having sex with prostitutes then also molesting his bedridden wife.)
I am seeing massive stealing of assets from the senior generation — mostly by family. One grandchild was stealing from her grandmother to pay her boyfriend’s probation fees, restitution, and support his drug habit. One senior came to my office directly from being discharged from the hospital because he was too scared to go home, where his stepson and wife were living, because the stepson threatened to kill him if he came back or if he called the police. Senior abuse, whether it be financial, physical, or emotional, is blowing up. But why? Here are some of my ideas:
