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Spotting Economic and Financial abuse against the elderly and vulnerable.

Economic/Financial abuse is more likely to affect the elderly, some due to their vulnerability and disabilities which make them dependant on others. Some of these helpers will have access to their assets – including online banking and shopping apps.

Where can Economic/Financial abuse be found in Private client?

This type of abuse can be seen in various aspects in Private Client. One of which is when someone has an LPA in place and their attorneys take advantage of having direct access and control over the donors assets. Another tactic of this type of abuse is within Wills, beneficiaries within the Will can manipulate through making the vulnerable testator give them more assets than other beneficiaries, knowing the testator is susceptible to go against the beneficiary.

The warning signs.

There are a range of indicators of financial abuse that practitioners should look out for, and whilst some are more obvious than others, some can be brought to us by others.

Some obvious signs may be:

  • An appearance of formerly uninvolved relatives or ‘close friends’.
  • A sudden change in the amount of assets left to beneficiaries.
  • Unpaid bills.
  • Sudden or significant change to the spending habits of donor.

How to prevent Financial/Economic abuse.

When clients have their initial meeting for drafting their Will, either to have the testator in on their own to go through their Will or if they are not comfortable to go through the whole meeting by themselves, for the first 5 minutes of the meeting to have the testator in on their own to confirm where they want their assets to be distributed to, etc.

We also request that the testator themselves makes the enquiry for the Will to be made and everything the testator requires, this is to clarify that everything is within the testator’s best intentions.

What actions to take.

When there is speculation of financial abuse, it should be done sensitively. Client’s situations are confidential and should be taken in consideration when taking action. However, there are several procedures you can take to make sure the clients are safe.

Depending on the situation, the options to contact for this abuse are the police, Adult Social Care, or Office for the Public Guardian.

For abuse within LPAs, it can be considered to make an application to the Court of Protection for the withdrawal of an LPA, or the suspension, discharge or replacement or variation of Deputyship.

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