Financial exploitation is a common form of elder abuse, often through misuse of Powers of Attorney (“PoA”) resulting in Power of Attorney Administration Fraud. A PoA gives your Appointee the right to do anything you could do except make up a new will: Cash in your bank accounts, or sell or remortgage your house, even while you are in it. Children in need of money can convince themselves “I’m going to get mom’s money when she dies, so it won’t hurt her if I borrow some money while she is still alive.”
An Appointee under a PoA must always act only in your best interests, and must never benefit themself. When choosing your PoA, consider whether the person is in control of their life and finances; if they can’t manage themself, they can’t manage you. Try to appoint someone local; the job of PoA can last many years. If you don’t have anyone to be your PoA then consider a professional, such as a trust company, a law office – yes, DLO provides this service – or a non-profit such as Solus.
Our office practice is to keep a PoA in our secure bank vault until the time it is needed – which it might never be. We only release it at your request, or on receipt of a doctor’s note stating that “the time has come”. This does not prevent PoA fraud, but it lessens the chance that the PoA will be “borrowed” from your desk drawer while you still have all your wits about you.