Aging and Financial Abuse: What Can Happen and Steps to Prevention

Posted by on Feb 7, 2017 in Estate Planning | 0 comments No one wants to think about the aging process, let alone all the dangers associated with advanced age and living in today’s world. Education and planning are the two most important steps to preventing any type of issues in the future. Senior financial abuse scams are a multi-billion dollar industry. This type of abuse not only effects the senior individual, but also their families, their financial institutions, taxpayers and all the services that provide relief to the victims. A study was done in 2011 by MetLife Mature Market Institute and they estimated that the annual financial loss from senior financial abuse was 2.9 billion dollars! That number was based solely on the cases that made it to the media. Seniors are especially susceptible to fraud. This is because we tend to be more trusting as we age, we have more wealth accumulated by that time in our lives, and our worlds become smaller.  Generally, Seniors do not have contact with a wide variety of people and become secluded from the outside world. While this is a natural process that comes with age, it also provides opportunity for those who mean to cause us harm. All seniors are at risk for being targeted, but women account for the majority of these types of crimes. I am not convinced this will always be the trend but for now it is. That is due to the fact that women live longer than men, leaving them alone when their spouse passes, and elderly women in 2017 are from a generation where they are used to relying upon others in their lives to help them make important decisions. What Are The Common Types of Abuse? Financial abuse comes in a variety of forms but there are certain forms that present themselves over and over again and have become very commonplace.   Types of senior financial abuse include: 1.    Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud 2.    Power of Attorney Abuse 3.    Reverse Mortgage Scams 4.    Living Trust and Annuities Scams 5.    Deed Theft and Foreclosure Rescue Scams 6.    Undue Influence 7.    Healthcare Scams Who Would Do Such a Thing? The perpetrators are not so easy to spot. They come dressed as your family member, friend, neighbor and people working in a professional atmosphere with ready-made deals, and ideas on how to invest money. When someone approaches an elderly person regarding: reviewing an estate plan, reverse mortgages,...
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How to Get The Most Out of Your Attorney

Posted by on Sep 6, 2016 in Child Support Enforcement, Divorce, Estate Planning | 0 comments Choosing your attorney carefully is important. This choice should be based on several factors when interviewing, including: picking someone you like, who understands you and listens to you, who you can work well with, and someone knowledgeable about the particulars of your matter.  After signing the agreement, most clients hand the case off to the attorney and hope for the best. Today’s discussion is on strategies that are instrumental in getting the most out of your counsel. Telling the Truth:  This is the very most important component in your relationship with your counsel. The attorney must know everything in order to best represent you properly. Even if the information is embarrassing, or you are ashamed of something you did, or it was a long time ago, you must tell your attorney. Why? Because this is exactly the type of information that can and inevitably will come back to haunt you and can destroy your case. An attorney bases their legal arguments on the facts you provide them. If the attorney has only a portion of the facts, then the legal theories will not hold and the attorney cannot perform as they could have if they were given all of the information up front.  Additionally, the attorney/client relationship is built on trust. Trust goes both ways. If you lie, or choose to leave out information, that can hurt your relationship. You want your attorney to want to assist you, so keep them happy by being honest. Being a Teammate:  When you hire, you and your attorney are a team. Throughout your representation the attorney will have a variety of requests for you. Some common examples include: providing evidence, being ready to discuss your case, and showing up to court on time.  Whatever the request may be, you must comply promptly and thoroughly.  If you delay in providing your attorney with their requests, it could have horrible consequences on your case. Furthermore, delaying your attorney’s work schedule is extremely disrespectful and inconsiderate of their time. The last thing you want to do is make your attorney resentful of you and end up withdrawing from your case because they cannot rely on you or feel disrespected. Adhering to your Agreement:  When you hire an attorney you enter into an agreement, or contract. That contract will state the terms of your relationship including the work that is to be performed and the fees...
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[video] The Power of Control in Wills and Trust Documents

Posted by on Jul 26, 2016 in Estate Planning | 0 comments One of the largest differences between a will and a trust is a trust must be funded in order to work. Funding the trust is the process of transferring your assets into the name of the trust so the trust becomes the owner. This is how all of your assets are pooled together for easy administration. Without funding, the trust cannot work effectively. Watch the video to learn more....
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Do I Really Need A Will? Horror Stories From The Grave.

Posted by on May 11, 2016 in Estate Planning | 0 comments We all hear people talk about estate plans and how everyone should have one drafted. But why is a will or a trust so important? Besides, who wants to think about the end of their life? Understandably the topic is a difficult one. But besides the normal warnings about how an estate plan can help you avoid family conflict, probate and estate taxes, I wanted to present a few real-life examples* to portray the sad and unfortunate circumstances that could have been avoided if a basic plan had been in place. A Stepchild’s Story: A client recently came to me asking what she could do to protect the estate of her stepmother who had recently passed away. The history was that her stepmother had raised her and been her mom for over 40 years. In turn, the client had cared for her mother during her the last ten years of her life when she was very ill. Now that her mom had passed, her stepsister, and blood daughter of her mother, had cut her off from family communications and any inheritance. This is the same stepsister who had refused to help her ailing mother in her last years and had all but disappeared from her mom’s life only reappearing when her mother had passed away. At first blush this seems simply cruel and human instincts suggests that there must be a legal remedy to aid in such a case. Especially considering this client had letters signed “mom,” she was listed as next of kin on hospital documents and there are over 40 years of evidence showing that there indeed was a parent/child relationship. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. In Arizona one must be a blood child or legally adopted to be considered an heir.  The only saving measure that could have secured this woman’s interest in her inheritance and protecting her mother’s estate from the stepsister is an estate plan. If the mother had even a simple will drafted that named her beloved child – who was never her child legally but who was her child in every sense of the word – her daughter would have avoided the harsh reality that she had zero options once her mother passed away. Now this poor woman has to grieve her mother’s passing and the fact that there is nothing she can do to protect her mother’s estate from a crooked...
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I Had A Trust Created, Now What?

Posted by on Apr 28, 2016 in Estate Planning | 0 comments You hired an attorney, went through the planning process, made those difficult decisions about who would be trusted and where your assets would go. Now that everything is signed and recorded you are all set right? Not quite.  Before placing that portfolio on the shelf, you still have one major task to complete. It may come as a surprise but most people do not realize that when you go to an attorney to have a trust created and the documents are executed, or signed, that isn’t the end. Creating a trust is a two-part process. The attorney’s job is to help plan, draft the documents, and ensure the execution is completed properly.  But unless you have hired an estate-planning attorney on an hourly basis, when you pay for a trust at a flat fee, the funding is left up to you. This should be discussed prior to drafting, but sometimes it comes as a surprise. Most attorneys will include instructions on how to fund the trust but when it comes down to the funding process, it is often overlooked. Disregarding the funding of the trust is detrimental to your estate plan because funding is what brings your trust to life. Without it, your Trust is no more useful than a basic will. The good news is – this is 100% preventable. The other good news is, your wishes are still documented. The problem is, when you pass away your successor trustee will have the task of probating your estate. That means gaining access to real property, bank accounts, retirement accounts and the like. This takes a lot of time, out of pocket expenses for your trustee to hire an attorney to settle your estate, and a court process that is a matter of public record.  Instead of the process being automatic, the process has become painstaking for your loved ones and your estate becomes open to litigation. I bet by now funding the trust is starting to sound pretty important. And it should because not only it is important but imperative. So what is funding the trust exactly? It is the process of effectively transferring your assets into the name of the trust.  Once you fund your trust, you will have the same flexibility to handle your assets the same as when they were owned in your name individually. The only difference will be that you will own your...
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What To Do When Someone Dies

Posted by on Mar 16, 2016 in Estate Planning | 0 comments Whether you know it is coming and are able to be present when your loved one passes, or whether you get a phone call in the middle of the night, the news of a loved one’s death leaves us feeling empty and everything seems to stop.  The last thing on your mind is a “to-do” list but in actuality there are many things that must be done when someone passes. Below is a list compiled to help you through this time.  The more planning you can do, the easier this process will be. At the end of the day, you want to keep yourself and your loved ones in a place where they can focus on the one who has passed and take the time needed to grieve. Right Away… 1.    Get a Legal Pronunciation of Death •    If your loved one is in the hospital or in hospice the nurse will do this. •    If your loved one passes at home or another location, you must call 911 and have the paramedics come. This is the time where you will want to show the Living Will and “do not resuscitate” (DNR) so they can make this pronunciation on the spot. If you do not have a DNR designation on a living will the emergency team will most likely still attempt resuscitation and will have to take the body to the hospital in order for a Doctor to make this determination. 2.    Make Arrangements for the Body to be Transported •    If no autopsy is needed, you will want to call the mortuary or crematorium. •    A licensed funeral director can help you either administer the plan that was set in place by the person prior to their passing, or help you transport the body, select a casket/urn/grave marker, arrange for burial, prepare an obituary, help contact the employer, insurance company and attorney, and offer grief support. 3.    Notify the Individual’s Doctor or County Coroner 4.    Notify Family and Friends •    This may be a very demanding job, it is suggested to split up this task and make personal phone calls. Finding out your best childhood girlfriend passed away suddenly on social media is not the way anyone wants to receive this information and certainly not the way the one who passed would want people to hear about their passing. 5.    Find Someone to Care for Children, Dependent’s or...
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