What is Elderly Abuse?

Unfortunately, as America ages, there are increasing incidents of abuse of older people. That abuse is sometimes physical but is more often financial.

Physical abuse of older people is, like child abuse, typically caused by those closest to the individual. It could be a family member or a caretaker. Like the very young, many older people are unable to protect themselves from attack.

As disturbing as any physical abuse of a vulnerable person can be, financial abuse appears to be more common and harder to detect. We all know of instances where people spend money in ways that from our perspective are neither reasonable nor wise. There may be unexplained withdrawals from the individual’s bank account, for instance made out to “cash”. What was the money for? That’s not always an easy question to answer because the individual who wrote the check or authorized the withdrawal might not have a clear understanding or recollection of what it was for.

Avoiding Probate

If you live in Maryland, you may want to consider avoiding probate if you expect your total assets at the time of your death to be less than $1 million. Because the value of the estate is under $1 million, there would be no Maryland estate tax. (The Federal limit is even higher, currently at $5 million.) You can use joint accounts which means that someone else other than you has access to your accounts and upon your passing, the other individual(s) named would have “rights of survivorship”. Ownership of the account passes to them automatically upon your death.

Another account which will avoid probate is a “payable on death” account. In that circumstance, you do not share ownership of the account with anyone else but at your death, the proceeds would be distributed to those you have designated as beneficiaries on the bank forms. Likewise, you can do the same thing with brokerage accounts by what is known as “TOD” or “transfer on death” accounts.

Please be advised, however, that if your total net assets that are held in your name or in one of these types of accounts exceed $1 million, you will be subject to Maryland estate taxation.