Protecting Elderly Loved Ones from Financial Scams: Essential Tools and Strategies
Jun 26, 2024
Greg McIntyre, J.D., M.B.A.
Ever wonder how you can protect your elderly loved ones from the ever-growing threat of financial scams? Join us on the Elder Law Report as Brenton Begley and Samantha Gordon pull back the curtain on these pressing issues, revealing actionable strategies to safeguard seniors' finances. This episode promises to arm you with knowledge on the essential tool of a general durable power of attorney, empowering a trusted individual to manage finances and, more importantly, act as a protective barrier against potential scams. We'll also shed light on selecting the right agent and the dual role they play in both safeguarding and actively intervening when necessary.
We'll also dive into the dark world of common scams that specifically target seniors, including those on social media and through unscrupulous financial exploitation. Practical advice on monitoring and protecting your loved ones is just the beginning. This episode also covers broader aspects of estate planning and elder law, ensuring every listener leaves with a solid understanding of how to respect and protect the wishes of the elderly. For those looking for more personalized guidance, we provide details on how to schedule a free consultation through our website, mcelderlaw.com. Don't miss this vital conversation aimed at securing the financial well-being of our cherished seniors.
Ever wonder how you can protect your elderly loved ones from the ever-growing threat of financial scams? Join us on the Elder Law Report as Brenton Begley and Samantha Gordon pull back the curtain on these pressing issues, revealing actionable strategies to safeguard seniors' finances. This episode promises to arm you with knowledge on the essential tool of a general durable power of attorney, empowering a trusted individual to manage finances and, more importantly, act as a protective barrier against potential scams. We'll also shed light on selecting the right agent and the dual role they play in both safeguarding and actively intervening when necessary.
We'll also dive into the dark world of common scams that specifically target seniors, including those on social media and through unscrupulous financial exploitation. Practical advice on monitoring and protecting your loved ones is just the beginning. This episode also covers broader aspects of estate planning and elder law, ensuring every listener leaves with a solid understanding of how to respect and protect the wishes of the elderly. For those looking for more personalized guidance, we provide details on how to schedule a free consultation through our website, mcelderlaw.com. Don't miss this vital conversation aimed at securing the financial well-being of our cherished seniors.
Brenton Begley:
Hi and welcome to the Elder Law Report. My name is Brenton Begley. I'm an attorney and partner with McIntyre Elder Law. I'm joined today by Samantha Gordon, an attorney with our office. Say hi, sam.
Samantha Gordon:
Hi everybody, I'm attorney Samantha Gordon, located in our Charlotte office.
Brenton Begley:
And today we wanna talk to you about a very important topic scams. Okay, so you know, as you might have heard in one way or another, maybe you've experienced it, maybe a family member has experienced it. You know, as you age, you may be more susceptible to influence and therefore scams. So we want to talk today about how to prevent from scams, how to be proactive in protecting a loved one from scams, and what to do to make sure that you have effective communication with your loved ones about the possible dangers of scams out there, because they're getting more and more sophisticated every day. So what tool could we use and based our protective strategy on Sam in protecting our loved ones against scams as they age?
Samantha Gordon:
Sure, definitely, a general durable power of attorney would be a great tool to have. A general durable power of attorney appoints an agent, someone that you trust and that you've chosen to manage your finances for you while you're alive, if, in the event, you cannot do so yourself. So making sure that someone else may have authority over your finances to protect you against scams as well, but also making sure that the person you choose may not facilitate that scam. So that's when you choose a trusted individual that you know is going to carry out whatever wishes that you have.
Brenton Begley:
Right. So a power of attorney in this case, a general, durable power of attorney is a document, a legal document, where you name an individual that you trust, hopefully unequivocally, to act on your behalf, as if they were you for legal and financial purposes. So in this case, sam, what you're saying is that the power of attorney can be sort of a shield and a sword in both protecting and preventing against scams. Is that correct?
Samantha Gordon:
Correct, the shield being that you appoint someone that you trust to manage your finances for you and then the sword being that maybe the individual that you have chosen could facilitate that scam. So really making sure that that document is airtight, making sure that there's specific provisions within that document that can protect your finances and also yourself.
Brenton Begley:
OK, so I know one concern that you know people have when they go to enter into a power of attorney is hey, am I giving up my ability to make my own decisions after I sign this document? You know what would you say to somebody who has that type of concern? And hey, if I'm putting a power of attorney in place, can I manage my own finances at that point?
Samantha Gordon:
You certainly can. You're just allowing someone to have the authority to act as your fiduciary, so someone on your behalf to manage your affairs the way that you would. You still have the authority to manage your own affairs. You're just giving someone the shoes that can step in in your shoes to handle your affairs for you. You also can terminate that power of attorney if you feel that individual is not acting on your behalf. If you still have capacity.
Brenton Begley:
Yeah. So in what way would an individual named as an agent under power of attorney help prevent from a scam if they're managing the principal's finances?
Samantha Gordon:
So they can have access to those individuals' bank accounts, even electronic communications such as social media, so they would have the ability to step in and help. For example, if there was a individual, maybe an elderly individual, and I had agency over them through their power of attorney and I knew that they were going on Facebook and there was a scam that was happening, I could make sure that I was getting in there and stopping what was going on, also contacting the bank and letting them know what's going on. If maybe that elderly individual really did not understand the repercussions of what they were doing was actually trusting this individual that was actually scamming them, that could be one example that I've actually seen in practice that you could do as a power of attorney.
Brenton Begley:
Yeah, I mean, that's a great point. You know there's lots of different types of scams out there. Things that we would commonly refer to as a scam would be lumped into a category of scam, but it could be many different things, come from many different angles. So can you speak to that? Can you tell us what are some of the common scams out there? You mentioned Facebook. You mentioned, you know, bank accounts. You mentioned also that the power of attorney can facilitate the scam. So talk about what opportunity there is for folks to get scammed out there.
Samantha Gordon:
Sure. So I've also seen, unfortunately, where an individual names an agent under the power of attorney and that agent misuses that power of attorney, such as opening up credit cards in that individual's name, using their funds for their own benefit, which is a gross misuse of that power of attorney. They could be held criminally liable for that Also you can file an action civilly against them. But that is a way also where a scam can come in. Also, if someone comes into our office and we feel that the individual that has brought them into our office may be unduly influencing them to become their agent, which is kind of where the scam starts and then, once they get that agency, they can start using, you know, those person's funds. So there's different ways, not only just on Facebook but in real life, where someone can really get a hold of your finances and use them for their own benefit rather than acting as your fiduciary.
Brenton Begley:
Right. And then the Facebook angle or the social media angle is, you know, having a loved one preyed upon by somebody who maybe you know your loved one's lonely, maybe there's a death in the family, maybe you know they're widowed and they're being preyed upon by an individual who's you know making promises and telling them that they love them and asking them for money once they get them in their grasp Interesting stuff. So what advice would you give somebody who has been given a power of attorney to help protect a loved one from a scam?
Samantha Gordon:
Sure so if they've been given a power of attorney. So the principal, who's the person that actually established that power of attorney, and then the agent, the person that's named in that document. Whenever we have someone in our office establish a power of attorney, I always recommend and encourage them to speak with their agent that you know this is. I've chosen you to be my agent. These are your duties under this power of attorney. They can also reach out to an attorney to kind of get a guide, you know, of what they're supposed to be doing after that power of attorney. I'm having an open line of communication. If, at any time, the principal the person that's established as power of attorney feels that their agent is not acting in their best interest and has concerns, I'm coming back into our office and getting that power of attorney changed immediately to make sure that there's no misuse of funds.
Brenton Begley:
Awesome. So what I'm hearing from you is you know, get your bearings, understand what you can and can't do with the power of attorney, have open communication, figure out what the assets are, figure out what the usual expenditures are, so you can you know red flag any major expenses, anything that seems to be an odd or out of character, aberrant expense, and to ensure that you're having, you know, regular communication regarding anyone else that they're talking to. And I'll add one more in you know, and this is helpful with the healthcare power. Fraternity that we also provide and recommend to clients is that you know figuring out if they are declining in mental health because of some type of debilitating disease like dementia, alzheimer's or something similar, and just monitoring their ability to manage their own finances and their susceptibility to influence and scams that's definitely.
Samantha Gordon:
Once someone does become incompetent, you can really make sure that you know their health decisions are being taken care of and then really be able to monitor that and take action if needed Awesome.
Brenton Begley:
So our goal today is to put out just a little information on how to protect yourself, how to protect your loved ones, from scams. Lord knows, there's a lot of opportunity for it. As technology gets better, the strategies get more and more creative and we see it every day and we're on the forefront of trying to protect from that. So the best tool you can put in place right here, right now is power of attorney. Sam, thank you for having this discussion today, putting out this good information, and thank you for listening to the Elder Law Report today, putting out this good information, and thank you for listening to the Elder Law Report. If you have any questions or want to schedule a free consultation regarding protection from scams, power of attorney or any other thing that we do which is estate planning and elder law, visit our website, mcelderlawcom to schedule your free consultation. Thanks again, sam.
