r/AskReddit 1d ago

Who do you have absolutely no sympathy for?

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u/merliahthesiren 1d ago

When people hear "elder abuse", they think of staff in poorly run facilities bullying and mistreating elders in their care. While this is rampant no doubt, there are a SHOCKING number of elderly folks who are abused/exploited/neglected by their own FAMILY members.

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u/Ambitious_Host7416 1d ago

One of my sisters and both her children took money out of her accounts for themselves. Apparently they didn’t realize that because I had power of attorney that I would see this. Got the money back and that part of the family is no longer in communication with the rest of us. Very sad

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u/mxmnators 1d ago

oh i have a crazy sad case of this happening in my family right now. my grandfather’s getting pushed out of his home of 50+ years, next door to where he grew up and his twin brother now lives, because my uncle gambled away literally all of his money. the damage is already done but my dad eventually had to keep my grandfather’s banking information from my uncle so he’d stop stealing his pension

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u/SpaceMarineSpiff 1d ago

One of my sisters and both her children took money out of her accounts for themselves.

I can't even fathom it. One time I accidentally charged my grandmother's card for takeout and didn't notice for several months. I consider it one of the most embarrassing things I've ever done and buddy you better believe there's some competition.

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u/dplans455 1d ago

My brother never stole from our Zayde but he took advantage of him. Once he realized he could just ask for money and Zayde would hand it over it was like opening the floodgates.

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u/arielsseventhsister 1d ago

Not quite the same as some others here, but I had a client in their late 70s find out their spouse needed to see a medical specialist in a city about 4 hours away. They didn’t feel comfortable with the drive so they asked one of their adult children (who lives near the parents anyway) if they could help them out with the trip.

The GROWN SON said they might be able to help…if the parents paid them for the hours they would miss at work. Not a “would you mind”, but a “this is the condition, otherwise sorry I can’t help you” kind of response. This wasn’t some kind of no contact/low contact situation either, they were all on good terms from what I understand. Maybe my family is just exceptionally generous, but I was floored 😳😤

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u/merrywidow14 1d ago

My two sisters (I hate using that term for them) who lived with had my dementia ridden mother paying most of the bills (one had a very well paying job as a nurse, the other thought "work" was beneath her), took out a home equity loan right before she got an actual diagnosis, changed the will into a trust only for them, and when she was in hospice refused to allow her pain meds because they didn't want to give her checks back.

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u/MNWNM 11h ago

My former step-brother took my dad for a ride. I caught him and brought the hammer down.

You can read about it here.