Inheritance impatience, rising costs of living and COVID-19 are contributing to an increase in attempts to extract cash, shares and property from elders.
Older Australians are being threatened with guns, cheated, having essential medicine withheld and even physically harmed in desperate attempts to force them to hand over their assets, usually to family members, say lawyers.
John McCallum, chief executive of National Seniors Australia, a not-for-profit that lobbies for older members of the community, says “digital abuse” is emerging as elders are targeted by online and telephone scams. This is exacerbated by a massive – and growing – wealth disparity between ageing Baby Boomers and younger generations struggling financially who want their parents/grandparents to support them, says Anna Hacker, national manager, estate planning at Australian Unity.Boomers are expected to pass on an estimated $224 billion each year in inheritances by 2050. Record housing price increases and superannuation wealth have created a $3.
Lawyers claim courts and tribunals are deliberating on an increasing number of abuse cases as the public becomes more aware of its prevalence.For example, Judith McFarlane was 76 when she said her son, Mark, forced her to transfer her home in Glenrowan, about 190 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, into his name, the Victorian Supreme Court heard.
In other cases the attempted transfer of assets disadvantageous to an elderly parent can involve poor advice.
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