Orlando Estate & Elder Law

Stretch IRA May be Disappearing Soon

Short of calling your representatives in Congress and hollering, there’s not much any of us can do about a proposed change to the rules that govern IRAs, reports nj.com in the article “Your kid’s inheritance could take a giant tax hit if these bills become law. Thanks, Congress.”

For years, non-spouse beneficiaries who inherit IRAs have had the ability to stretch out required distributions over their lifetimes. That meant that inherited IRAs could say safe and sound out of the IRS’s reach, except for annual distributions that were quite small. If a grandchild inherited the IRA, the wealth stretched even further.

Depending on the final details of the legislation, the only people who will be able stretch an IRA will be spouses.

Current rules require non-spouse beneficiaries to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) every year over the course of their life expectancy, as per the IRS life expectancy tables. Because they are taken over the lifetime of a younger beneficiary, they can be small. This means the impact of the distribution on the individuals’ income taxes are minimal and the IRA can grow tax deferred over a long period of time.

Congress is looking for revenue and the wealth of Americans in IRA accounts is in their sight lines.

First, the House passed the SECURE Act, which says that beneficiaries must completely empty their inherited IRAs within 10 years of ownership. The Senate then passed the RESA Act, which is a little different. It would allow a stretch for the first $450,000 of aggregated IRAs, then anything over that would have to be distributed within five years.

Both bills call for changes to apply to inherited IRAs and inherited Roth IRAs for deaths after December 31, 2019. What’s the bottom line? The Joint Committee on Taxation expects that these changes, if they become law, will yield $15.7 billion—with a “B”—in additional tax revenue through 2029.

The government would eventually get this money anyway but this speeds things up considerably.

Let’s compare and contrast. An 80-year old woman has a traditional IRA worth $1 million. She dies and her 55-year-old daughter is the primary beneficiary. Under the current rules, the daughter’s first RMD is roughly $35,000. If the 25-year-old granddaughter was the beneficiary, the RMD would be roughly $18,000.

If the account earns an average of 5% annually, under the current rule, the granddaughter would have distributions of some $220,000 over ten years. If she had ten years to take the money out, she’d have about $1.3 million in distribution. Under the current rule, the account would have a $1.3 million balance after ten years, since the principal would continue to appreciate. Under the proposed rules, after ten years, it would be zeroed out.

The forced larger distributions will push heirs into higher tax income brackets. That will be followed by increased Medicare premiums, as heirs retire with higher income. Add to that: higher capital gains rate, from as low to zero to as high as 20%. If that’s not bad enough, it could also trigger the 3.8% net Investment Income tax.

One option is to move funds from a regular IRA to a Roth IRA, assuming the investor meets all the requirements to do so. The Roth IRA distributions would not be taxable (unless those laws change) but that also requires the current owner to pay taxes on funds moved to the Roth IRA.

Another option is to consider a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) that names a charity as the IRA beneficiary. Upon the death of the owner, the IRA is distributed to the CRT, and the IRA owner’s heir would receive a fixed percentage of the CRT’s value for the remainder of their lives. When the heir dies, the money in the CRT goes to a charity or charities designated by the IRA owner when the trust was created.

For now, these are proposed pieces of legislation, but chances are good they will be passed soon. Now is a good time to meet with your estate planning attorney to do what you can to protect your IRA and your children’s inheritance.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: nj.com (June 10, 2019) “Your kid’s inheritance could take a giant tax hit if these bills become law. Thanks, Congress”

Can I Create POA without Giving Up Control?

Seniors sometimes hesitate to sign off on a power of attorney that allows someone to act on their behalf because they fear loss of control and exploitation. It’s not unreasonable but it does create problems, says Daily Local News in the article “How to stay in control when appointing a power of attorney.”

On one hand, without having a signed power of attorney, which is relatively simple to obtain from an estate planning attorney, the family may be faced with going to court to file for guardianship.

Guardianship is expensive, time consuming, can limit the individual’s freedom and may even result in an appointment of someone the person does not want to be their guardian. There are some instances where guardianship is necessary.

On the other hand, the seniors who believe that a power of attorney is a powerful document that requires careful consideration,
ight to give it the thoughtfulness this document deserves.

Here’s how to maintain some measure of control, while having a power of attorney:

Be certain about the agent you name. This is not a role for someone you recently met who feels like an old friend. It must be someone you would easily trust with your entire life savings, without a second thought. You need to be 100% sure that the person would act responsibly, in your best interests, following through in paying bills, consulting with experts when necessary, keeping records and being scrupulously honest and putting your interest first in everything they do.

Don’t name someone just because they are your oldest child and someone’s feelings would be hurt. If a person has money problems themselves, that person is not a good candidate for this role.

Have a backup. Or two. If your primary “attorney in fact” is unable or unwilling to act on your behalf, have a second person, or even a third, ready to act.

Ask your estate planning attorney to create documents that work for you. There are forms you can use but they may not be appropriate for your situation. Your best bet is to have an attorney prepare a power of attorney document that meets your needs. For instance, you may not want to give someone unlimited power, or you may want to give them power to do everything but gift assets. You might want to give them the ability to cash in insurance policies for your medical expenses but not to change the beneficiaries on your insurance policies.

If you want two agents to act together, you need to know whether your bank, brokerage house, financial institution or financial advisor will accept two. Will they be able to work together?

Separate financial power of attorney and health care power of attorney. One person does not need to handle all your tasks. One of your children may be great in crisis situations, while another is good at finances. Divide up the tasks so that each can participate in decision making in different areas.

Who needs to know about your power of attorney? It’s best if all your children know if one of them has been named attorney in fact and others have not. They will find out eventually, and it may be better, even if there is some grumbling, for them to know in advance of a crisis.

Fire at will. You retain the right to fire your agent(s), by serving them with a revocation or by appointing another attorney in fact. If the family is not getting along and things have turned ugly, speak with your estate planning attorney to ensure that the proper protections are in place.

Lastly, protect yourself by keeping access to debit cards, credit cards, usernames, passwords and online access to bank and investments carefully secure. If you run into a problem, don’t hide from it—get the help you need, either from a family member, trusted friend, or your estate planning attorney.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Daily Local News (June 11, 2019) “How to stay in control when appointing a power of attorney”

Social Security Error and Medicare Coverage: This One’s Not a Scam

A “processing error” by the Social Security Administration has caused 250,000 benefit checks to be issued in January without deducting the proper Medicare premiums. The Social Security Administration did not pay the insurance plans, reports NPR in “Social Security Error Jeopardizes Medicare Coverage for 250,000 Seniors” The problem applies to private drug policies and Medicare Advantage plans that provide medical and drug coverage and are substitutes for traditional government-run Medicare.

Some people will need to find the money to pay the plans while others may have their plans cancelled and need to fight to have them reinstated.

Both Medicare and Social Security expect proper deductions and payments to resume either this month or next. Insurers are required to send bills directly to members for unpaid premiums, says Medicare.

Neither Medicare nor Social Security would explain how or why the error occurred or provide the specific names of the plans that were shortchanged. They also didn’t give the amount that the plans were owed. There is a notice to Medicare’s beneficiaries on the website but it is lacking in detail.  The House Ways and Means Chair, Rep. Neal, hasn’t received any response from either agency.

Organizations that represent seniors are getting some questions from their members. Two women in Louisiana lost drug coverage after their policies were canceled as a direct result of the error. A woman in Ohio was reinstated in fewer than 48 hours after the state’s insurance information program for seniors got involved.

Some people may not have noticed that their Social Security checks did not include a deduction for their Medicaid Advantage or drug plan premiums. They may have thought the extra amount was an expected cost-of-living increase.

Medicare beneficiaries have had the option of paying premiums through a deduction from their Social Security benefit checks for more than a decade or they can pay directly through a credit card or a checking account instead of from their Social Security benefits.

Insurance companies must allow members at least two months from the billing date to pay. They must also offer a payment plan for those who can’t pay several months of premiums at once.

The acting director for the Medicare Plan Payment Group warned companies that they must take these steps to avoid invoking their policy of disenrollment, if the member fails to pay premium while the member is adhering to the payment plan. The federal policy director of the Medicare Rights Center, an advocacy group, is concerned that older adults will view their bills with suspicion, which could lead to further problems.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: NPR (June 6, 2019) “Social Security Error Jeopardizes Medicare Coverage for 250,000 Seniors”

Top Four Facts to Know about Estate Planning

Estate planning can save your family the stress of court cases and family feuds before the process of settling your estate begins. A plan that you create will provide tremendous peace of mind to those who are left behind. The sorrow of losing a loved one is more than enough for a family to experience, says NewsGram, in the article “4 Things You Must Know About Estate Planning.” You had better to have a plan to ensure that your estate is executed with as little acrimony as possible.

Estate planning focuses on planning for how an individual’s assets will be preserved, managed and distributed after their death. It also addresses how the person’s financial life, including their property, is to be managed, in the event they become incapacitated because of an accident or an illness. This is done with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney.

The core of estate planning while you are living, is to protect your assets, protect your estate from having to pay unnecessary taxes and protects you and your wishes, if you are incapacitated or pass away. Here are four key things everyone should keep in mind while preparing their estate plan.

Age should not be a factor. Anyone who is of legal age and owns anything has an estate. An estate refers to anything of value that you own. It does not mean a $10 million mansion. A home, a car, bank accounts, retirement accounts and personal possessions make up an estate, regardless of their size or value. Once you have assets, you need an estate plan. We don’t know when we are going to die but we can be sure that if you have no estate plan, the state will determine who receives your assets. You may want to make those decisions for yourself. That’s what an estate plan does.

You need an estate planning attorney. Estate planning crosses into several different legal practice areas. Asset management, tax planning, real estate, guardianship and other areas need to be addressed by a legal professional who understands how these elements all work together. An estate planning attorney has a professional responsibility to help you document your wishes for incapacity and death.

However, they do more than that. The estate planning attorney will help you fine-tune your wishes, gain clarity on what you want to happen during life and death and translate that into the legal language that ensures that your wishes are achieved.

Planning helps avoid or minimize probate. Depending on where you live, probate can be a simple process or one that takes a long time. The estate planning attorney will help you plan to pass your assets to your spouse or the next generation to avoid going through the court process known as probate. This is a process of authenticating your will, verifying that the assets in the will are correctly named, paying off any outstanding tax balances and approving the distribution of the assets. With a good estate plan, you can make this a simple process.

An estate plan works to minimize family squabbles. Disagreements over estates, including personal possessions as well as money, routinely tears families apart. You don’t have to be wealthy or even a celebrity to have a family that is fractured over a misunderstanding or someone feeling like they were not treated fairly. This is another area where an experienced estate planning attorney can help bring you through the process of distributing assets with a deep dive into how your decisions may be received by various family members.

To get started, contact an experienced estate planning attorney in your community. If you have an estate plan but haven’t reviewed it in more than four years, it’s time for an update. A number of laws have changed on the federal level that may require some changes to your estate plan. If you have had any major life events, you also need a review.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: NewsGram (June 5, 2019) “4 Things You Must Know About Estate Planning.”

Celebrity Estates are Like Dynamite: It Takes Very Little to Set Them Off!

Dividing his estate between 11 different people was quite a task for pop star George Michael’s lawyers. He left out his ex-boyfriend Fadi Fawaz and his friend Kenny Goss, raising a lot of eyebrows, says The Irish Sun in the article “Most explosive wills in Hollywood history which left families feuding for decades after George Michael document revealed.” However, he’s far from the only celebrity to cut out loved ones from their estates.

Mickey Rooney—When movie star Mickey Rooney died in April 2014, at the lofty age of 93, most people assumed that this wife and eight children would be his heirs. Rooney had a long career, starring in many movies with many bold face named stars. However, he had a surprise—he left behind just about $18,000 to his stepson Mark Aber and disinherited his wife and other children. Several of his biological children objected to the will, which was signed just a few weeks before his death. The case was later dropped because it was too small an amount to litigate over.

Tony Curtis—He is another movie star who left absolutely nothing to his biological children when he died in 2010. One of his children is Jamie Lee Curtis, a successful actress and author. Instead, the star of “Some Like It Hot” and many other movies left approximately $39 million to wife number six, Jill Vandenburg Curtis. Making matters worse, she turned around and auctioned off his personal belongings, adding another million to her pile. His daughter said they were “blindsided” by his decision and her sister Kelly started a lawsuit but later dropped it.

James Brown—This is an estate battle that is just about as legendary as the soul-singer himself. Thirteen years after he died, his last will and testament is still unsettled. Lawsuits, murder accusations and a battle for ownership of his music catalog is still going on. About a dozen lawsuits have been filed by his nine children and grandchildren, who are suing his widow and claiming that she was married to another man when she wed Brown. That estate is estimated to be worth $99 million.

Joan Crawford—Made infamous by her daughter Christina’s tell-all book, “Mommy Dearest,” Crawford left more than $2 million to two of her adopted children when she died in 1977. She made it very clear in her will that her son Christopher and Christina were not to receive anything. However, the two contested the will and won about $50,000 each.

Marlon Brando—With 10 children to his name, he recognized all but one—adopted daughter Petra—and left out his teenage grandson, son of his late daughter Cheyenne Brando—in his will. With an estate estimated at $20 million, Brando passed away at age 80.

Michael Jackson—The “gloved one” cut his father out of his will before he died from a drug overdose in 2009. His father tried to contest the will but failed. Michael did not include his famous siblings either. It is thought that several of his brothers and sisters are now engaged in an estate battle, which is worth more than $1 billion. Michael took good care of his mom and his three children, Prince, Paris and Blanket.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: The Irish Sun (June 5, 2019) “Most explosive wills in Hollywood history which left families feuding for decades after George Michael document revealed.”

Should Retirement Include a Small Bit of Work, on Your Terms?

A college student who worked as a seasonal employee for a tax preparation company was surprised to learn that most of his co-workers were older people, mainly older than 60 and one older than 70. As a young person, he thought they were working because they were desperate for an income, says the Napa Valley Register in the article “Consider a Retirement Job.” As he got to know his fellow workers, he learned that he was very wrong.

Most of them had retired from bigger and far better jobs. They took the seasonal tax work just to stay active and earn a little extra cash. The young man never thought much beyond that until he began his own career as a financial planner and learned just how valuable a retirement job could be.

Retirees with a side job have more success in retirement and it’s not just because they have some extra spending money. They have regular interactions with people of all generations and they have a structure to their days that makes most senior’s lives more productive and fulfilling.

When we think of retirement jobs, most people think of a big-box store greeter. That’s not a bad deal but it’s far from the only option to retirees. Some people decide to drive for a company like Uber or Lyft, which gives them a great deal of control over their schedules.

Did you know that there are driving services that don’t require you to drive people? You can drive as a courier, run errands or bring people food from restaurants, like DoorDash and Grubhub or, if you are fit enough for heavy bags, from grocery stores, like Peapod.

Other service jobs include house sitting or pet sitting. Online vacation rentals have led to an increase in home maintenance and housekeeping services needed.

Another option is to continue in your present job, but do it less, and on your own terms. For a teacher, that might mean substitute teaching. For professionals, becoming a consultant, often for the same people you worked with in the past, but on your terms, is also a part time option.

Retirement is when many people turn to their hobbies and make them into businesses. That could be crafts, painting, photography or woodworking. If you’ve always wanted to pursue a creative life, this is the time.

There are many different opportunities for retirement jobs. The important thing is to find something you love to do, that brings in some money and that works with your retirement lifestyle. Do what you love, and don’t settle for anything less.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Napa Valley Register (June 2, 2019) “Consider a Retirement Job.”

Why You Need a Last Will and Testament

A will and testament is the document that allows you to describe how you want your belongings and assets to be distributed after you die. It’s different than a “living will,” explains The Daily Sentinel, in the article “It’s important to have a Last Will and Testament.” A living will is a document used to detail how someone wants their end of life matters conducted.

In Colorado and some other states, the Living Will is referred to as an Advance Directive, which helps to avoid some confusion between what it accomplishes and the tasks of the will.

The will is also the document used to name the person who will be the personal representative, often referred to as the “executor”, to carry out the directions in the will.

When there’s no will, there is much more work to settle an estate. The distribution plan is determined by the laws of the state. It is not likely to be what the person had in mind, but by then, it is too late.

Every parent needs a will because it is used to name a guardian for minor children or a child with special needs. This is not a decision that can be left to the law. There is no automatic solution based on state law like there is for assets and belongings.

If there is a disagreement about who should care for the dependents, or how the assets should be used to care for the dependents, the only solution is to go to court and have the court decide what is in the children’s best interests. The time, expense and stress on the family is easily avoided, simply by having a properly prepared will.

There are occasionally questions about whether a general or special power of attorney can be used to name a person to handle affairs when someone dies. This is not true. The authority given to a person in a power of attorney automatically and legally terminates, when the person who gave that authority to another person has died.

Several years ago, a widow was preparing to create a will but never did. She had no surviving parents or siblings but she did have a son. She probably thought that the law would give him all her assets automatically.

Unfortunately, after the woman died, it was learned that the “son” was an informally adopted son who had never been legally adopted. According to the laws of the state, he had no legal right to her estate. She could have had a will prepared and he would have inherited everything. However, because she had no will, distant relatives who she did not even know, were the recipients of her estate.

This example may be a little extreme, but it is not uncommon. Many unexpected things occur when there is no estate plan, or an estate plan is prepared by an inexperienced person using a form they found online or at the local library.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: The Daily Sentinel (June 1, 2019) “It’s important to have a Last Will and Testament”

How Do I Know When to Start Social Security Benefits?

There’s so much advice flying around about when to claim Social Security benefits that it can be confusing. Sometimes it makes sense to claim earlier than age 70. Sometimes it does not, says The Beachcomber News of Brigantine in the article “When to claim Social Security.”

How’s your health? The longer you expect to live, the longer you should wait to claim benefits. The break-evens for age 62 vs. 66 are ages 78 and 79. The break events for 66 vs. 70 are ages 82 and 83. It’s not to say that you must wait if you think you are going to live for a long time, because there are other factors that should be considered.

How much money do you have saved for retirement? The more money you have been able to save over the course of your career, the longer you can potentially delay taking Social Security. Every year that you don’t collect benefits, your monthly benefit grows by 8%. That’s a terrific increase and one you won’t get in many other places. Don’t overlook this advantage. However, if you haven’t saved a lot, you may not have a choice and have to take your benefits earlier.

What about your spouse’s benefits? What your spouse can expect to receive in benefits may have an impact on your decision about when to take your own benefits. This includes ex-spouses, by the way, if you were married for more than 10 years and have not remarried.

Your lifestyle now and your lifestyle in the future. Think about what’s more important to you and your spouse: getting a higher total monthly benefit by waiting to claim Social Security at age 70, or getting a smaller benefit now? Again, if you need the income and can’t wait, that’s your answer. However, if you expect to live a long, active life, you may want to wait. What is your plan for your retirement’s early and later stages? There are stages to retirement and retirement spending. In the early stage, people to tend to have a more active and costly lifestyle. As aging progresses, most people spend less.

What will your spouse need in the future? What if your spouse outlives you? This is especially important if one of you has been the high-income earner. When one of you dies, the survivor will get the higher of yours or their Social Security benefits, not both. If you want to maximize the surviving spouse’s benefit, then you may want to consider waiting so that they will receive a larger benefit for the rest of their life.

These are issues that can be discussed with your estate planning attorney when you are working through your estate plan. How will your Social Security benefits work with your retirement income plan, and how will distribute your assets for the benefit of your spouse and children?

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: The Beachcomber News of Brigantine (May 29, 2019) “When to claim Social Security.”

Inheritance, Meet Technology: Estate Claims May Be Challenged

Between off-the-shelf DNA testing kits and online genealogical searches, family members who may have never known of each other’s existence are coming to light more often than ever before. So is the news that one’s parent may not be a biological parent, according to the article “Discovering long-lost family: Inheritance laws cover surprise relatives, but changes possible,” from The Indiana Lawyer.

This is yet another reason that wills and estate plans must be carefully drafted by an estate planning attorney. Language in the will must make it very clear that assets are only to be distributed to the known children of the married couple, unless that is not the person’s wish.

An inheritance may be left for a child who was given up through adoption or, if a previously unknown child shows up at the doorstep, the family may wish to bequeath a share of their estate to that child. There may be no legal claim but the family may feel a moral obligation, which is entirely up to them.

Since technology is streamlining the search for lost relatives into a few keyboard clicks, the drafting of wills has become more complex. It’s not just filling out names on a form, because the will has to be drafted to prevent any unforeseen problems that may result when new relatives appear.

The search for unknown relatives usually comes from positive motives. Family members usually want to connect with long-lost cousins, aunts, uncles and siblings, out of a desire for connection and not financial gain. However, a properly prepared will should be drafted, according to the testator’s wishes.

Families are changing, with more openness, and estate plans are being adjusted accordingly.

One couple wrote a will to leave an inheritance to a grandson even though he had been adopted by another man. Their son had died after fathering the child without marrying the child’s mother. The mother married and her husband adopted the grandchild but the grandparents had maintained a relationship with the family and left their son’s heir a portion of their estate.

People are more aware that family members may arrive unexpectedly. Occasionally, spouses want language in the will restricting assets only to the children who are the product of their marriage. That can spur some uncomfortable, but necessary, conversations.

When you sit down with an estate planning lawyer to discuss your will and distribution of assets, you’ll need to be honest and discuss any possible heirs who might appear that were previously unknown to the family. The more details and information you can provide to the attorney, the better prepared your will can be to withstand a challenge from a ‘new relative.’ If the wish is to take care of a previously unknown family member, that can be accomplished also.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: The Indiana Lawyer (May 29, 2019) “Discovering long-lost family: Inheritance laws cover surprise relatives, but changes possible”

Think It’s Elder Abuse? Here’s What You Need to Know

If you take those numbers for a single county in California and multiply them across the nation, you’ll get a clear understanding of how our nation is aging and the number of vulnerable people susceptible to elder abuse in the coming years. With the growth of older adults, the risk will grow, reports Event-News Enterprise in the article “How to Recognize, Prevent and Address Elder Abuse.”

There are a number of types of elder abuse: physical, emotional, neglect and financial abuse. Overmedicating a resident of a care facility is one form of physical abuse. Self-neglect occurs due to physical or mental decline or from the senior’s inability to pay for their medications.

It’s estimated that 11% of all elder abuse cases in the United States occur in California. Financial elder abuse is the fastest growing form of elder abuse in the country.

Elder abuse is also the most unreported crime. There are a few reasons for this: the senior is embarrassed at having been taking advantage of. When the abuser is a family member or a caregiver, the senior is often afraid to report the person for fear of being harmed. They are reluctant to report a family member. And they are reluctant to report a person they have come to depend upon for care. Who will take care of them?

The most common types of elder abuse are the romance scam, the grandparent/friend/family member facing an immediate emergency, imposter scams (Social Security or IRS scams), employment scams and sweepstakes/lottery/prizes scams.

To combat elder abuse, reporting all and any types of abuse is critical. Physical elder abuse must be reported to Adult Protective Services (APS) or the local police department. Reports to APS are kept confidential. Anyone who is a victim of financial scam or fraud should contact the local law enforcement, APS or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Think of it this way: you are not only defending yourself but you may be protecting someone else from being scammed.

Sometimes people can get their money back, but it is difficult. The best way to prevent elder abuse is to be educated and forewarned about the scams, so as not to become a victim.

Most nursing care facilities or hospitals have an ombudsman or patient representative office. Contact the office—most offer the ability to remain anonymous.

Elder abuse is a terrible shame, when people take advantage of those who are least able to protect themselves. With strong public outreach and education programs, seniors who are aware of the scams and their own vulnerabilities will be better protected and able to defend themselves.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Event-News Enterprise May 29, 2019 “How to Recognize, Prevent and Address Elder Abuse.”