Elder abuse – Know the signs and your rights

It was a headline ripped almost directly from a Hollywood script. A man with a serious brain injury is whisked away from the hospital to be secretly married to an ex-girlfriend who wanted nothing more than access to his money.

It seemed unbelievable until sadly it wasn’t a work of fiction but a fact-based account of an incident that took six years to legally resolve.

In Ontario, marriage revokes any current will – the law says spouses are guaranteed the first $200,000 after death with the remainder split with surviving children.

In Canada, it’s estimated over one trillion dollars will be passed down through inheritance in the next two decades.

That’s a lot of money.

It could also leave a lot of our ageing and older population vulnerable to predators and to become victims of elder abuse.

But what can family members and older adults do to protect themselves from elder abuse? How common is it and what are the signs it’s happening?

As our ageing population grows – what laws need to be in-place to ensure examples and stories of predatory spouses can’t happen?

There are a lot of questions – that’s where our experts can help. The International Federation on Ageing's Expert Centre has several experts who can speak on elder abuse and ageism. Simply click on one of their icons to arrange an interview.

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