Financial Abuse of the Elderly
Let's discuss an interview protocol which has been proposed to prevent individuals suffering debilitating infirmities from being financially exploited at the time they execute wills, deeds, trusts, POAs and other important legal/financial documents -- and also prevent the ruinous litigation which often results under such circumstances.
Tom Fields
shared this idea
3 comments
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Anonymous
commented
Great idea, Tom! This should have been in place years ago.
Marie Tupper -
Dianne Cassell
commented
I agree with the protocol set forth by Tom Fields dated January 11, 2012
om Fields commented · January 11, 2012 · Flag as inappropriateThis protocol is based upon the following five steps
• STEP 1: Use a checklist to identify those situations which require the rest of the protocol to be followed
• STEP 2: Ask the transferor open-ended questions to learn what business, if any, he wants or expects to conduct at this time
• STEP 3: Ask the transferor to provide details about what he expects the document to include
• STEP 4: Ask the transferor questions which others might reasonably want to ask if they were present, including questions about the transferor’s understanding of the suspicions that his signing the document might raise and the transferor’s ability to address those suspicions
• STEP 5: Explore potential conflicts between the transferor’s expectations and the content of the documentSee “Testamentary Capacity: History, Physicians’ Role, Requirements, and Why Wills Are Challenged”, Ryan C.W. Hall, MD, Richard C.W. Hall, MD, Wade C. Myers, MD, and Marcia J. Chapman, Clinical Geriatrics June 2009, pages 18 – 24, especiallyTables III and VII, which identify situations for which the proposed interview protocol would require an independent examiner to ask questions like those which are spelled out by Table VIII
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Tom Fields
commented
This protocol is based upon the following five steps
• STEP 1: Use a checklist to identify those situations which require the rest of the protocol to be followed
• STEP 2: Ask the transferor open-ended questions to learn what business, if any, he wants or expects to conduct at this time
• STEP 3: Ask the transferor to provide details about what he expects the document to include
• STEP 4: Ask the transferor questions which others might reasonably want to ask if they were present, including questions about the transferor’s understanding of the suspicions that his signing the document might raise and the transferor’s ability to address those suspicions
• STEP 5: Explore potential conflicts between the transferor’s expectations and the content of the documentSee “Testamentary Capacity: History, Physicians’ Role, Requirements, and Why Wills Are Challenged”, Ryan C.W. Hall, MD, Richard C.W. Hall, MD, Wade C. Myers, MD, and Marcia J. Chapman, Clinical Geriatrics June 2009, pages 18 – 24, especiallyTables III and VII, which identify situations for which the proposed interview protocol would require an independent examiner to ask questions like those which are spelled out by Table VIII
