Posted: Friday, 25 October 2024 @ 12:06
1 They are a Target and There Is Every Incentive To Focus on Elderly People
Fundamentally older people represent a source of wealth which is typically linked to their housing. In a dated, but relevant report by Royal London, property worth more than £400bn is set to move down from grandparents to younger generations in the coming decades. According to research by the insurers Royal London about 4 million of the 17 million people aged 25 to 44 are in position of being in line to inherit from grandparents who have bought property. It found that among the grandparents, all of whom were homeowners, the typical estate expected to be left averaged between £400,000 and £500,000. Based on just more than 1 million people leaving these amounts in their wills, “this suggests a ‘wealth mountain’ of over £400bn set to be passed on” across the UK.
2 Elderly People are not being Treated with Respect
According to this piece by Catherine Pepinstern in the Telegraph:
“Even more disturbing, though, is the growing sense that the older generation is no longer a priority. From the cutting of winter fuel payments, to the growing acceptance that assisted dying is the right choice for people wanting to lessen the burden on others and the NHS, to this limit on drug spending, a culture is emerging that sees those who are older as worth very little.”
This is a fundamental reflection of attitudes towards the elderly and makes elderly vulnerable to financial abuse.
3 The Practical Legal Controls are Weak.
Fundamentally if one does commit elderly fraud, one is likely to get away with it. From experience most lucrative elderly frauds are pre-planned and people can use perfectly valid wills drawn up by solicitors to enable that fraud to happen.(e.g by appointment of a would be person as executor).
Then the fraud needs to be discovered, and then even if it is the family/victims may not want to do something about it. If it is referred to the police they are unlikely to do something about it unless the evidence and circumstances are compelling.