Social worker for Cork and Kerry warns of 'disgusting' elder abuse by families to swindle money

Warning about family members who use 'next of kin' status to swindle older people's money

In one case in the Cork and Kerry region, 'a solicitor was asked by a next of kin to visit an older person in their hospital bed to discuss changing the will'. File picture: PA

A senior social worker for the Cork and Kerry region has warned of 'disgusting' financial abuse of elderly patients by family members who use 'next of kin' status to swindle their money.

In one of the worst cases, a relative of an elderly person, who was sick in hospital, sent in a solicitor to have a will changed at the hospital bedside when the patient was suffering from a progressive illness.