Jenny Rodriguez said...
Something needs to be done to protect our elderly from abuse/exploitation. A few years ago, my grandmother was approached by her son with some papers. My grandmother, who has Alzheimer's and
doesn’t read or speak English, unknowingly signed a Quit Claim Deed handing over her house to a corporation whose President, Vice-President, and Secretary are my uncle’s three children.
Of course, no one in the family was aware of this until my mother tried looking for cheaper house insurance for my grandparents when she learned that my grandmother and grandfather no longer owned the house. Since then, this has been a never ending battle in court.
Elder Affairs was contacted many years ago. They sent a case manager out to the house, yet nothing was done. My mother paid over $10,000 dollars to one attorney who
didn’t do anything to resolve this case. This case was referred to Comprehensive Care who
hasn’t done anything to settle this case. Worse yet, they recently asked the judge that they no longer want to represent my grandmother because they are having a difficult time reaching my uncle and his attorney.
How could this be happening? This has been in and out of court since 9/22/04. My grandmother is 90 years old and her memory has deteriorated greatly. What recourse do we have? What can we do when our legal system seems to be failing us? When my mom went to court yesterday, the judge did not have the case file, no longer remembered the case, and was pleased to hear that my uncle
doesn’t mind my grandmother living in the house, “her own home!” Why
hasn’t anyone been able to void the quick claim deed?
I hope that you will continue to write about this problem. We need to fight to protect our elderly from abuse/exploitation from strangers, family members, and the legal system. I have contacted my state representatives, and I will continue to write until something gets done.
Thank you for you time,
Jenny Rodriguez
JenJor1316@aol.com--------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Jenny;
I really feel for what you are going through, this is one of those things that is supposed to happen to
'other people' until you become a victim yourself. Elder Financial Abuse is being called the Crime of the 21st Century.
I am very well acquainted with the never ending battles in court
Defense Lawyers Often Try to Delay Trial of Elder Abuse and Exploitation cases until the Victim is too Disabled to Testify, Experts Say
The reason you haven't been able to reverse the Quit Claim Deed gained by trickery is because you haven't
paid the Legal Ramson in the way of Legal fees.
$100,000.00 seems to be the
going number for most of these type of cases that we at E.A. have heard about.
Elder abuse justice is for the rich! 85% to 96% of Elder Financial Abuse goes
un reported , perhaps now you know why!
When Clara
started getting Dementia, she wanted to sign the house,
CD's, assets over to us, however we are old fashioned and we told her "No all those assets are yours until you die, you might need them, we are not here for that." As her mental abilities declined a group of opportunists saw the door swing wide enough for them to get control and vacate her trust of anything of value, including some unique
personal jewelry, which Clara was wearing on the day she was taken and is un accounted for.
So until laws are changed to benefit the victims and their families, all I can say is when you notice someone in your family starting to get old and senile, you better transfer all their assets over 'pronto' because once the 'opportunists' get their foot through the door, you will never be able to shake them. After all they have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so if you end up spending all of your
grandmother's assets in legal fees, that just fine with them as they have a
'Scorched Earth' mentality.
It seems that when it comes to our elders that
possession is 9/10
ths of the law, once the opportunists,elder abusers,lowlifes, what ever you want to call them get their greedy hands on your
immediate family assets all they have to do to get off is accuse you of the same thing you are accusing them, this is usually good enough to throw up a smokescreen and confuse the investigators.
"Individuals 65 and older control over 70 percent of the nation's wealth," As Willie Sutton is famously known to have said, when explaining why he robbed banks:
"That’s where the money is." It seems that a number of individuals, and some organized gangs, have realized that many single elderly persons have that in common with banks: they have money, and it is all too often available for the taking.As baby boomers begin to retire and their parents pass away, Americans are about to witness the
largest transfer of wealth in the nation's history.
I suggest that you keep writing your congressman, although you are highly unlikely to get any sympathy from people who have never experienced Elder Abuse firsthand.
If you press the issue like we have , they are likely to tell you that your grandmother has the right to give her house to whomever she wants, and give the old 'shoulder shrug'.
The way (
some) authorities thinks your grandmother is old and she is probably going to die anyways, what does she need a house, money for ? It's very kind that your uncle will allow her to live in her house, even the judge told you so .
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