What Should I Do If Someone Is Financially Exploiting an Older Adult?

The difficult feature of family financial exploitation is that ordinary help and misconduct can look similar at first. A relative may legitimately pay a parent’s bills; a caregiver may legitimately buy groceries. The dividing line is not the family title. It is whether the older adult’s money or property is being used for that person’s benefit, with authority and records to support the transaction.

What should I do if my sibling is taking money from my elderly parent?

Start by reducing the risk of further loss and creating a reliable timeline. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau defines financial abuse as taking or misusing another person’s money or property for someone else’s benefit, and it identifies family members, friends, caregivers, and professionals as possible perpetrators. Suspicion is not proof, but it is enough to justify preserving evidence and making a report.

Contact the bank, credit union, card issuer, or other provider connected to the questionable activity promptly. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s reporting guide, an institution may be able to return funds depending on the circumstances. Ask what documentation it needs, what account protections are available, and whether it has a power-of-attorney document on file.

Make copies, organize them by date, and keep original records intact. The Department of Justice evidence checklist specifically identifies current and closed account statements, front and back copies of checks, signature cards, wire records, and customer-correspondence files as potentially relevant. It also lists suspect communications and computer data. A tidy chronology is more useful than a pile of alarming documents.

For families already reviewing recurring withdrawals and savings, a clear record of income, bills, and account activity is the same discipline used in planning monthly retirement savings: separate the known numbers from assumptions before deciding what they mean.

Can someone with power of attorney take an elderly person's money?

No: a power-of-attorney agent may manage the person’s money only for that person’s benefit, not for the agent’s benefit. The CFPB’s guide for power-of-attorney agents describes the agent as a fiduciary, meaning a person with a legal duty to put the principal’s interests first.

The CFPB identifies four core duties: act only in the person’s best interest, manage money and property carefully, keep the person’s funds separate, and keep good records. The last requirement is unusually practical. The guide advises agents to maintain a detailed list of receipts and spending, including check amounts, dates, purposes, and recipients, and to retain receipts and notes even for small expenses.

That framework resolves many disputes. Paying the older adult’s rent, care, or tax bill can be consistent with an agent’s role when it is for that person’s benefit and documented. Moving their money into the agent’s own account, using it for the agent’s expenses, or leaving no explanation for withdrawals points in the opposite direction. The absence of paperwork is not automatically proof of exploitation, but it is a serious failure where the agent had a duty to keep records.

State law controls the available remedies. The CFPB explains that an agent who fails fiduciary standards may be removed, sued, required to repay money, investigated by police, or jailed; states can impose additional duties. This is why a family should preserve the actual power-of-attorney document rather than rely on a description of it from memory.

How do I report financial exploitation of an elderly person?

Report suspected exploitation to APS, contact the financial institution tied to the account, and involve emergency or law-enforcement services according to the level of danger. The CFPB is explicit on a point that often delays action: “Even if you don't have all of the details, you should still file a report.”

The Administration for Community Living’s Eldercare Locator states that APS programs are available nationwide to investigate and intervene when elder-abuse allegations are reported. It can direct people to local APS and related programs by ZIP code or city and state, and it provides the Eldercare Locator number, 1-800-677-1116. For an older adult in a long-term-care facility, every state also has a Long-Term Care Ombudsman program that helps advocate for residents and resolve problems.

Use the report to state facts rather than conclusions: who had access, which transactions concern you, when they occurred, what records exist, and whether the older adult faces urgent danger. If decision-making capacity is disputed, the DOJ checklist identifies capacity evaluations and medical or psychological records dating at least one year before the incident as potentially relevant. Agencies and investigators may need formal legal processes to obtain certain records, so preserve what the family can lawfully access and let the appropriate authority request the rest.

Legal-service programs supported by the Older Americans Act can assist older adults with issues including protective services and abuse. An elder-law consultation can clarify the legal authority in the specific state, whether the agent’s access can be challenged, and what civil options may exist. The essential sequence is simple: protect access, preserve the record, report the concern, then evaluate legal remedies with the documents in hand.