‘Inheritance impatience’: Financial elder abuse by adult children on the rise in Tasmania

Financial elder abuse is sadly on the rise in Tasmania, with adult sons and daughters increasingly stealing from ageing parents in a phenomenon dubbed “inheritance impatience”.

Tasmania’s Public Trustee says financial elder abuse is on the rise, particularly with a phenomenon known as “inheritance impatience”.

Financial elder abuse is sadly on the rise in Tasmania, according to the Public Trustee, with adult sons and daughters increasingly stealing from their ageing parents in a phenomenon dubbed “inheritance impatience”.

The Public Trustee currently has administration over the finances and affairs of 1150 vulnerable Tasmanians, with the legal orders to do so made by the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

CEO Todd Kennedy told the Mercury the Public Trustee currently had about 14 ongoing cases relating to “matters of misappropriation” from the finances of vulnerable Tasmanians, including the elderly.

But he said the actual number of older Tasmanians suffering financial abuse would be much higher.

Public Trustee Tasmania CEO Todd Kennedy.

His comments came after two stories recently published by the Mercury – one after an elderly woman allegedly had antiques, crystal, valuable paintings plus $160,000 in cash stolen by one of her daughters, and another in which almost $220,000 was transferred from the bank account of an elderly woman to one of her sons.

In both instances, the Public Trustee was appointed by the tribunal in a bid to protect the elderly women from further alleged financial abuse.

“Sadly with elder abuse, it is common across Tasmania and the rest of the nation. The statistics show that one in six older Australians are subjected to elder abuse, which includes financial,” Mr Kennedy said.

“But the real number is expected to be much higher, and that’s because sadly the number one perpetrator is the adult son, followed by the adult daughter – so people are reluctant to report because it’s often family and they don’t want them to get in trouble.

“It’s difficult to get the true numbers, but if you look at the ageing population and the increase of age-related illnesses like dementia, then the prevalence of elder abuse is certainly increasing based on that.”

Mr Kennedy said there was a term called “inheritance impatience” where adult children tried to justify spending their parents’ money – on the basis they were providing their mother or father with support.

But Mr Kennedy said there was a “very clear line” when dealing with another person’s finances, and any family member caring, acting as an administrator, or acting as power of attorney was required to keep their parent’s funds, bank accounts and transactions separate.

He said the key was early intervention, because once funds were appropriated, “it’s often a little too late for Tasmania Police to do anything”.

Mr Kennedy said the key risk factors were age-related illnesses like dementia.

He recommended people appoint a trusted person as an enduring power of attorney.

“It’s really important to act early. Make sure you’ve got that important legal document in place, and that it’s in the hands of someone that you can trust,” he said.

The Tasmanian Elder Abuse Helpline is available at 1800 441 169.

Follow @ambervwilson

Originally published as ‘Inheritance impatience’: Financial elder abuse by adult children on the rise in Tasmania