ABSTRACT

Powers of attorney (POA), widely used in end-of-life planning, give authority, often to relatives, to manage elders’ affairs if they become incapacitated. Unfortunately, family members are frequently perpetrators of elder family financial exploitation (EFFE). To understand possible EFFE precursors, the Elder Family Financial Exploitation Survey (EFFES) collected hierarchical data (individual relatives nested within families) including respondent and elder demographics, financial exploitation details if it occurred, and family dynamics (general family functioning, fairness conflict, resource exchange patterns, entitlement attitudes, and communication/problem-solving). Multilevel logistic regression models found positive association with greater fairness conflict and entitlement attitudes, and negative association with general family function, resource exchange expectations, and communication patterns when growing up, but no association with current communication. Findings can prompt families to proactively address negative family dynamics to reduce the risk of EFFE. Results may also inform decisions about appointing other fiduciaries, e.g., trustees, and personal representatives (executors).

摘要

寿命终止计划中广泛使用的授权书（POA）通常赋予亲戚权力，使他们在丧失能力时能够处理老年人的事务。不幸的是，家庭成员经常是老年人金融剥削（EFFE）的犯罪者。为了了解EFFE的可能先兆，老年人家庭金融剥削调查（EFFES）收集了分层数据（嵌套在家庭中的个人亲戚），包括受访者和老年人口的人口统计信息，金融剥削的详细信息（如果发生的话）以及家庭动态（一般家庭功能，公平冲突，资源交换方式，权利态度和沟通/问题解决）。多级逻辑回归模型发现，正向关联与更大的公平冲突和权利态度相关联，而负向关联与一般家庭功能，资源交换期望和成长时的交流方式相关联，但与当前的交流不相关。研究结果可以促使家庭积极应对负面的家庭动态，以降低EFFE的风险。结果还可以为有关任命其他受托人（例如受托人和个人代表（执行人））的决策提供依据。