Your Estate … with James Ward: She was ‘helping’ but scammed 97-year-old stepfather, stole millions

Learn to watch out for yourself, and learn to have more than one trusted person looking after you. 

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By James Ward

Can you imagine that you live to be 97 years old, you’re still healthy and have a sharp mind, and then you find out that a stepchild who was “helping” you was really helping herself to your finances?

Wow! Devastating news. But I have a case like that now.

It looks like the stepdaughter positioned herself to get $3 to $5 million without any problem.

When the elder fell and was in a nursing home, the stepdaughter used the results from a non-medical examination to convince people that the elder was incapacitated, and then she moved to take control of all of the assets. Shameful, but that’s what the evidence leads us to believe.

Once the stepdaughter was tracked down and served notice by a private detective and process server, she immediately hired an attorney to protect herself. And the story gets worse and is still ongoing.

Will the elder regain control of their own money? Will it be tied up in litigation? Will the elder ever be able to use their own money during their lifetime? Will the stepdaughter end up in jail? There’s so much mystery surrounding this story.

A quote from the FBI website states that: Ninety percent of all elder abuse is committed by trusted and known individuals. It’s committed by family members, people that they know, neighbors, people that they trust.

I’ve had a few elders who had named their gardener to be in charge of their banking and estate because they’ve known him for a few months, and he told them that he’s a good guy.

Yes, maybe a good gardener, but can you trust him with your money and house? If he told you that he’s a good guy, does that really mean he’s a good guy?

You and I may ask, “Who would name a gardener who they’ve known for only a few months to be in charge of their finances and home?” Well, I wouldn’t do it, and maybe you wouldn’t do it either, but these things happen because the elders may be lonely or weak-minded or simply don’t know what they’re doing and they accept “kindness” from strangers, and that “kindness” leads to elder financial abuse.

And, most likely, none of these elders would have made the same mistakes of trusting the wrong person a few years earlier, but then something changed in their lives, or in their minds, and then they trusted the wrong person. Or, the “OK” people changed to “bad people” when given the opportunity to grab some extra money.

Our government, when it functions properly, is supposed to have a system of checks and balances. Maybe people should think about how they can arrange such a system of support people to help them — but that system has to be put in place before it’s really needed.

What’s the value of putting on your seatbelt after the accident?

What’s the value of finding out that your fire extinguisher doesn’t function after the kitchen bursts into flames?

What’s the value of finding out that your back door didn’t lock properly after the burglary took place?

Learn to watch out for yourself, and learn to have more than one trusted person looking after you. Try a system of checks and balances.