Protecting Estates.
Protecting Legacies.

Lonely seniors might be more vulnerable to undue influence

Watching parents age can be difficult for anyone. This is especially true if your parents must move into a nursing home or another long-term care facility. After all, these places can be isolating, causing residents to experience extreme loneliness.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, loneliness can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes for the elderly. Moreover, lonely seniors might be more vulnerable to undue influence when they are writing wills, establishing trusts or tackling other estate planning tasks.

Friends who are not friendly

Isolation can cause lonely individuals to crave social connections. While there certainly is nothing inherently wrong with making new friends, you do not want someone to take advantage of your mother or father. Sadly, undue influencers might befriend your parents in an attempt to swindle them.

Decisions that do not make much sense

Even if your parents’ new friends are not trying to cheat them out of their wealth, new friendships can cause lonely seniors to make decisions that do not make much sense. For example, your parents may decide to leave assets that should end up elsewhere to their new friends. Put differently, lonely individuals might place oversized importance on new friendships, even if doing so is detrimental to their children, grandchildren or others.

While your parents should have full control over what happens to their assets after their deaths, you do not want them to make rash decisions. Ultimately, if you think your parents are feeling lonely, visiting and calling more frequently might protect them from undue influence.

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