In January, Patty Brown of Danbury, Conn., got a new housemate: her 91-year-old mother, who lost a few hundred thousand dollars she had entrusted to Bernard Madoff when his Ponzi scheme collapsed.

Most of Virginia Rafferty's furniture is gone, because there is no room for it in her daughter's house and they can't afford storage. They got rid of the car that Ms. Rafferty drove to Dunkin' Donuts every morning. Ms. Brown, 61, now offers her mom a ride, but she usually says: "No, that's OK."

"We...