Nine months ago, before my mother passed away, before this horror show (my awareness of my parents' money being stolen right out from under everyone's noses) began, if anyone had suggested to me just how easy it is to steal from the elderly and just how often it happens -- AND how unattainable justice is after the fact -- I think I might have gasped incredulously but privately I'd probably have reassured myself with something like, "It's a terrible crime, of course, but it could not possibly happen with that kind of frequency. Surely, in this great country of ours, such horrendous and flagrant violations of the law could not possibly go unpunished!"
And guess what? I'd have been dead wrong. This is not Law and Order, and it will not get neatly wrapped up at the end of sixty minutes. In fact, hard a pill as it is for me to swallow, I now know it will never get wrapped up, neatly or otherwise. Hence the birth of my upcoming film, Last Will and Embezzlement -- a feature-length documentary which delves deeply into the topic of elder exploitation. I had to do something ...
What most Americans are unaware of (and that included me, I assure you!) are the "threshold policies" throughout the US. Simplistically put, because resources are stretched so thin these days, and because all prosecutions have an expense associated with them, each state establishes its own "off the books" policy regarding "dollar amount thresholds" -- the actual financial value assigned to a particular embezzlement case (money stolen vs. what the state might be able to realize at the end of a successful prosecution) -- below which a case simply is not in their interest to pursue. In other words, if they don't think it's worth it, the authorities will simply refuse to do anything about it. Of course, they will never state it that way, but that's what happens.
The effect of these thresholds, outside of saving the state loads of money, is that the lion's share of perpetrators will never be prosecuted -- and they know it. And the effect of that is that it actually encourages repeat offenses, because it creates safety zones in which these perpetrators may operate with impunity.
Implausible as all this may sound, it is more often the rule than the exception. And if you think for one moment that this social problem is not something that effects you, think again. Baby Boomers control 80% of the world's personal finances and we are turning 65 at a rate of 61,000 per day across the globe (in modernized countries, that is).
Our world is facing the largest transfer of wealth from one generation to the next in history, putting into harm's way more than 500 million Baby Boomers as we march headlong into old age ourselves -- not to mention our adult children and our already-aged parents. And all I can say is every man, woman and child had better wake up and they'd better do it soon.
Pamela S. K. Glasner is a published author and a filmmaker. More information about Last Will and Embezzlement and Ms. Glasner can be found at www.lastwillandembezzlement.com, http://tinyurl.com/6tmtfmp, and http://tinyurl.com/2cn8bpo
Copyright by Pamela S. K. Glasner © 2011, All Rights Reserved
Follow Pamela Glasner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PamelaGlasner
assets. Take my son for instrance..He stole my valuable inheritance (my financial security in my old age -I am now 85) right out from my recorded judgment, thjat all assets are under my sole ownership.
He and his attorney went to Probate court, and by Affidavit only, had a Trustee appointed over my inheritance, with no access during my lifetime, to secure his inheritance. I have been fighting for my righjtful asset for the past 10 year, And when I finally went public with such tyranny, I was sued for $55,000.00 defamation. He won again... Makes one wonder, where the judicuary has its advantage
from such disrespect for the Law and the State's Constitution. EB
Unlawful and abusive guardianships are harming families and pauperizing vulnerable, disabled, and elderly people all over this country.
Guardianship law is designed to "guard", "conserve", and "protect" incompetent people and the public. Over the years, the laws have been misused, misapplied, or manipulated to unjustly enrich court-appointed fiduciaries at the expense of and to the detriment of the very people the courts have assigned them to protect.
Who pays the price? Every taxpayer picks up the Medicaid tab when wards are pauperized into indigence under the guise of "protection."
JOIN the national movement for reform. Join NASGA
Yours,
Elaine Renoire
NASGA
www.StopGuardianAbuse.org, www.AnOpenLetterToCongress.info, www.AnOpenLetterToCongress-2.info, http://NASGA-StopGuardianAbuse-3.info BoomersBewareofGuardianshipAbuse.info,
and http://NASGA-StopGuardianAbuse.blogspot.com.
Fake house repair contractors are especially common in my area.
And my mom knows that when the time comes that she can no longer take care of herself she can count on me. That is the least I can do for two wonderful parents. Love you mom & dad.
My parents accounts were drained, their house mortgaged. $98 left to their name!
State atty won't prosecute...because it was a POA. We are in a law suit against the bank that allowed over 70 checks to be cashed(each over $4500, some for $25,000.) that were written to the attorney in fact(man with POA) personally. Nearly a million dollars has vanished into thin air.
Elder crimes are usually not committed by strangers, but most often by family or dear friends.
God will have to be the just judge because we can't even get the sherriffs office to consider this theft a crime.
When various relations contacted this nephew inquiring about wether there was a will, since auntie had no immediate family, only cousins, the nephew told the relatives that there was no will and further, that anything she had went to the nursing home.
None of this was true. The nephew had destroyed the will. This was 15 years ago. He got away with theft and financial expolitation of an elderly person but since no relative pursued legal action, nothing happened.
This aunt was not of sound mind when she executed this POA. I am sure this happens all the time and a lot of people get in on the action because they're getting paid.
He made out like a bandit