Polk Law Blog

The Ledger is running a story this morning about the arrest of an individual accused of stealing about $200,000 from an elderly woman she was hired to care for.

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence in Polk County. I have been involved in dozens of contested guardianship proceedings and many of them were instituted because something of exactly this sort was going on. These cases are not rare – it is rare for enough of a case to be built that someone is actually arrested and charged. Hired caregivers are often the culprit, but children of the victim are more often the perpetrators of these crimes.

On the hired caregiver side of the equation, I’ve never seen or heard of a case where a licensed or degreed professional (such as a trained geriatric care manager) was involved. More often, a friend or neighbor who works their way into the person’s life before the dementia gets too bad. They help out, gain the victim’s trust, get access to the money to “help out” with paying bills, and then funny things start to happen as the victim sinks into dementia.

I suspect that those who commit these crimes sort of ease into them. They probably begin with a sense that they are doing something nice for a friend, and temptation, financial need, and the lack of anyone looking over their shoulder combine to overcome their better judgment.

Being able to help make situations like this right is why I became a lawyer. It saddens me that so many elderly people are taken advantage of in this way.