Nursing home abuse is something that’s received more attention in the past few years than it ever has in the past. Nursing home abuse occurs when the nursing home staff abuses the residents, either physically or emotionally. But there’s another type of nursing home abuse that’s not given as much attention and so, many people aren’t even aware of it. That’s financial abuse, and it can be devastating to nursing home residents and their families.
Nursing home financial abuse can happen in a number of ways. Nursing home staff can simply steal money when the resident isn’t looking, or isn’t in their room, or residents can be tricked into signing financial documents. Checks can be stolen and cashed, or the staff could just charge money for unnecessary services, or services that were never even rendered.
These acts can financially cripple any person, and the elderly are easy targets because not only have they been saving their entire life, but they’re also in a vulnerable position in nursing homes and need to just trust that the staff is doing their best in trying to take care of them. Because it can be so difficult for the residents themselves to identify financial abuse, it’s even more important that their family members can spot it. This is the only way to stop it from happening, and to get any compensation.
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If you suspect nursing home financial abuse, here are some things you can look for in order to properly identify it:
- Money transfers, or transfers of other assets, to individuals that aren’t family members
- Sudden changes in the resident’s will or other financial documents
- Resident’s living conditions suddenly become beneath their resources (they can afford a private room but are suddenly transferred to semi-private, etc.)
- Checks are being written to a particular individual, especially if they’re frequent and to someone that the resident has never written checks to before
- Changes in bank accounts, especially withdrawals that are being made by a non-family member
- Resident suddenly doesn’t want to talk about money, especially if they had no problem talking about it before
- Missing items from the resident’s room
Nursing home financial abuse is just as damaging as physical and emotional abuse, and it can be even more difficult to identify. If you think you or a loved one has been the victim of this type of abuse, call us here at Crowe Arnold & Majors, LLP at (214) 231-0555. We are the Dallas nursing home abuse lawyers and we want our 25+ years of experience to help you, too. Call us today!
