Modern bounty hunters?

The October 9, 2017, issue of The New Yorker included a shocking article titled “How the Elderly Lose Their Rights.”  The author, Rachel Aviv, was interviewed by National Public Radio.  This article should be read carefully by everyone who is 65 or older, and by everyone who has a relative who is 65 or older.  In short, it should be read by everyone.

The short answer to the article’s title is that the elderly lose their rights through involuntary guardianship.  A pervasive system is described in which professional guardians obtain legal control over elderly persons.  These are not just people who have no family and need help, but folks who are self-sufficient and who have family nearby, but who are not capable of fighting the legal system.  The case studies described in the article, of guardians liquidating the property of the elderly prematurely and getting rich from their “profession” are heartbreaking.

There are an estimated 1.5 million adults under the care of a guardian in the U.S., and they have an estimated $373 billion in assets.  That data comes from an auditor for a guardianship fraud program in Palm Beach County, Florida.  Unfortunately, states do not have uniform oversight of guardianships, and in some jurisdictions the guardianship records are sealed anyway.

One important benefit of revocable living trusts is that they remove the need to have a guardian appointed to handle financial affairs.  The trustee, who is already known to the family, has complete legal authority over the finances.  That should prove one defense against these modern bounty hunters.