Elder abuse takes many ugly forms

As a member of our small community, I have witnessed many atrocities committed against the senior citizens who have lived here in the Mat-Su Valley.

I mean such things as neglect, theft and abuse. I am not talking about the care provided by senior homes. I am addressing some of the things done by family members, especially adult children of the elderly. These are children who promise to love and care for their parents when they can no longer care for themselves, yet have too much income or property to qualify for a personal care attendant. They cannot afford to pay for one out of pocket nor will their insurance cover a personal care attendant.

If the problem is income, there is very little that can be done. If it is a matter of property, it must be disposed of, but according to the law it has to be done within a set time frame.

A case in point: An elderly woman has been diagnosed with a debilitating disease. Her daughter and son-in-law agree to care for her after her husband of more than 30 years has died. There is just one thing the couple requests — the deed to the home the woman and her husband built together.

As this point, I am going to digress for a moment. This elderly woman, like many other senior citizens, is on a considerable number of medications. One medication is for her condition, another for blood pressure, others for depression and anxiety. Anyone who can read a “Physician’s Desk Reference” would learn some of the side effects of these medications. Some are mind altering, especially those used to control depression and anxiety.

Now this elderly woman’s daughter takes her to a local title company on one of her good days and has her sign the deed over. The title clerks are totally unaware that this senior citizen who just signed away her home is on any of these medications. Moreover, as far as the title company is concerned she is of sound mind.

As soon as the daughter has the deed she begins taking anything and everything of value. Later, the elderly woman realizes she his being robbed blind. Moreover, the daughter stops coming over to assist her mother.

The woman presses on and finds that her daughter had even stolen the lawn mower. When the mother asks for it back she is told to cut the grass with her teeth.

At this point, the woman decides to take her daughter to court to get the deed back. She pays a local attorney thousands of dollars to get the case in front of a judge. The daughter brings in the clerks from the title company, who testify the elderly woman was of sound mind on the date she signed over the deed. The senior citizen’s attorney never opens his mouth to defend his client. Therefore, the judge tells the woman she has no case and would lose in front of a jury.

This woman paid thousands of dollars to a useless local attorney. In addition, she was denied her claim by an uninformed and unsympathetic judiciary we elected.

This is a true account of events that happened right here in the Mat-Su Valley. When is this type of neglect, theft and abuse going to end? Are going to allow this to continue to the elderly of our communities?

I purposely named no names, but the players know who they are. Sadly, similar scenarios are playing out every day in our own little spot on the globe. The only ones getting rich are the lawyers and opportunistic family while our elderly lose everything.

James S. Strickland is a resident of Palmer.