It’s often a tightrope walk. When you have older loved ones who may be frail, isolated, or alone, there is always the concern that you protect them from harm even while respecting their autonomy and dignity. Perhaps in no area is this of more concern than when it comes to financial matters. Older adults who have spent their lives saving and managing their money certainly have the right to make their own decisions about how that money should be spent in their later years. Yet, there exists solid data and evidence to underscore that older adults are often the target of financial exploitation or even outright theft, even if their decision-making capacity is intact. And while you may assume your older parents are safe from such exploitation, it turns out that trusted caregivers or even other family members can often be the perpetrators of such exploitation. Questions arise, then, as to how to find out what’s going on, what can be done and to whom should such exploitation or abuse be reported?

First, it’s important to understand that even cognitively intact older adults may not be shielded from being swindled by trusted people in their lives. The aging brain is less sensitive to the sorts of scams often targeted at older adults. Of course, those with declining capacity are particularly vulnerable due to less awareness of what’s happening, overestimation of their ability to handle financial matters, and even less working memory to keep track of financial affairs. Monitoring finances also poses a significant burden for family caregivers. With the reality that something’s got to give in such situations, it’s not surprising that keeping track of money may fall by the wayside.

Dr. Leslie Kernisan, the trusted source of advice on all things aging from the website Better Health While Aging, has a comprehensive blog post on the financial exploitation of older adults. She provides definitions of specific terms (examples such as financial exploitation versus undue influence), teases out the differences between predators and opportunists (those who purposely target versus those who just seize an opportunity to exploit), describes worrisome signs to look out for, and then provides remedies for reporting and taking action. AARP also recently published suggestions about how to prevent your older loved one from being financially exploited. Its recommendations include such steps as designating someone as a trusted financial power of attorney, but also giving financial institutions another trusted contact in case of questionable activity (you can just give the contact “view only” access rather than the power to actually handle financial matters). There are also services like LifeLock and EverSafe to help remotely monitor accounts. Of course, this level of sharing financial info requires tact and sensitivity but may provide crucial monitoring without interfering with personal financial decisions.

One other brand new resource comes from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They just published a free, downloadable 32-page resource guide entitled, Preventing financial elder abuse: Guide for family and friends of people living in nursing homes and assisted living communities. While geared toward specific populations of older adults, many of their insights and recommendations have wider applicability and value. The 4 point approach of this guide- prevention, recognition, recording, and reporting- is critical no matter whether the victim lives in the community or a facility. As an entry into their recommendations, take a look at the 4 page summary of this guide here.