So, from time to time I have some people who come into my office where someone is infirmed or recently passed and a loved one comes in and says, “I think this person was financially exploited.”
Many times, they are legitimate. After investigation, we find that the person was exploited to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars sometimes, by often loved ones. Now the first thing you need to know, if you even expect that, there are things that can be done to protect the person. There’s lots of laws, lots of court processes that can be immediately put in place to protect the person from exploitation whether it’s actual physical harm to them or financial or otherwise – a lot of options available.
Now if you’re on the other end of the spectrum, it’s already happened – the money is gone, or you think it’s been stolen, there are things we can try to do to recover it, but it’s usually on a case by case basis and recommendations are made based on a number of factors about how to go about recovering this money.
But you have a situation where you think exploitation is happening, there are some mechanisms in place where you can investigate that, or go to the authorities and investigate that.
