When a person ages, they may grow more susceptible to the influence and manipulation of bad faith actors.
Because of that, it is important to know the red flags that may indicate undue influence. What exactly are they?
Defining undue influence
The American Bar Association takes a look at cases of undue influence across the country. First, what is undue influence? This refers to situations where one or more people exert influence and control over a person. This person is usually vulnerable in some way, such as being a minor or elderly with memory troubles.
The purpose of undue influence is often to gain control over the assets of the victim in question. For example, someone may want to get to a minor’s trust fund and could exert manipulative control in order to gain access to it. Another person may want control over a victim’s estate plan and could trick that person into making them the estate executor.
Finding red flags
Red flags of undue influence often first appear when the loved ones of a victim notice their absence. This is due to the fact that manipulators will usually try to isolate their target. They do so to prevent other people from noticing the manipulation, and to prevent the target from getting outside opinions that may help them discover that something is amiss.
Take note of suddenly changing opinions, too. Victims will often begin to recite the rhetoric that their manipulators feed them, even if it directly disagrees with what they felt or believed before.
The faster someone takes action when they believe undue influence is afoot, the better the potential outcome for the victim.
