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New Protections for Elderly Investors - Texas Estate Planning

Two years after New York socialite Brooke Astor died in 2007, her son, Anthony Marshall was convicted of bilking her of millions of dollars. The heiress suffered from dementia, and did not know that her son, charged with her care, was paying himself from her assets. The Astor story is surprisingly common: a growing number of Americans suffer from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia and a sizeable percentage of those patients will fall victim to scams.

A recent Reuters article, titled “Protecting dementia sufferers from scammers gains ground in U.S,” says that states are now trying to provide greater protection for elderly investors. Three states have enacted laws that permit retail brokers to help deter scams against people with dementia.

The laws, which are being examined by other state legislatures, allow brokerages to halt an older client’s request to transfer money to others (at least temporarily) if a wealth manager suspects that his or her customer may have dementia and may be unknowingly be the victim of a scheme.

More than 5 million Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia, the article says. Citing the Alzheimer's Association, that figure accounts for roughly 1.5% of the U.S. population. Experts say this could grow to 7.1 million by 2025. 

The elderly are often easy targets for con artists and unscrupulous family members. In fact, U.S. seniors lose approximately $2.6 billion annually to financial exploitation. And more than half of this financial exploitation is committed by friends, family members, or caregivers.

 Elder financial abuse is frequently hard to detect, but the article explains that requests for large, "questionable" sums of money can often be a clear sign.

Philip Marshall (Anthony's son and Astor's grandson) commented that these new laws might have helped protect his grandmother. The younger Marshall is a professor of historic preservation in Rhode Island who recently went on sabbatical to devote more time to elder protection issues.

Brooke Astor was an heir to the Astor family fortune that started back in the 18th century. She passed away in 2007 at age 105, and had a $200 million estate. Most of this was earmarked for charities. Unfortunately, her son exploited part of her estate that was to be used for her personal expenses. He paid himself roughly $1 million for managing her affairs in 2006, as was revealed in a court proceeding.

Some have concerns about these laws and think that perhaps the government could empower wealth managers to interfere with legitimate transactions and keep elderly people from their investments, the article reports. FINRA, an industry watchdog, is also developing guidance on the issue, with input from the SEC, as brokerages have asked for clarity on this because of rules that require them to execute a customer’s transaction.

Roughly half of the states have laws that require employees of financial institutions to contact state agencies if they suspect an elder customer is being financially exploited. However, many of these laws do not include retail brokerage employees or allow those institutions to delay withdrawals.

Brokerages are often put in a tough position when this situation arises. Contacting concerned family members to question an elderly client's instructions could run afoul of laws about protecting privacy, as well as rules that require processing transactions on time. That said, following the client's instructions can help the customer who otherwise may fall victim to a con or abusive caretaker. As it stands in most states, brokers could be liable for taking action or honoring such a transaction.

Contact an experienced estate planning attorney for guidance on how trusts may be used to help curb this abuse.  John M. Lane Law, PLLC can help you discover the Simplified Solution to your estate planning needs. Everyone has an estate, no matter how large or small, complex or simple.  For more information about how we can help you, visit our website at www.JohnLaneLaw.com.

 Reference:  Reuters (July 1, 2015) “Protecting dementia sufferers from scammers gains ground in U.S.”

Boyfriend of Whitney Houston’s Daughter Getting into Estate Plan Trouble (Already)

Is there a target on Nick Gordon? He might well conclude that. The erstwhile boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown will likely never see the 22-year-old daughter of the late Whitney Houston again. She is now in a Duluth, Georgia hospice, and her family has banned him from her bedside. Instead, Gordon, 25, is being sued for many millions by her representative, court-appointed conservator Bedelia Hargrove. The lawsuit asserts that Gordon beat up Bobbi Kristina on the day she was found, knocking out a tooth, and leaving her in her current brain-damaged and unconscious condition from which she is unlikely to recover. He also allegedly stole thousands from her bank account while she's been unconscious these last five months.

The USA Today article titled, “Lawsuit start of big trouble for Nick Gordon,” asks “why is this guy being sued?”

 It appears that his suspect reputation and lying are giving the family of Whitney Houston’s comatose daughter the idea of bringing an action against him in an effort to keep him from claiming a piece of Bobbi Kristina’s million dollar estate.

 In the past, Nick Gordon has claimed that he was “informally” adopted by Whitney and that he’s also Bobbi Kristina's husband, which would make him a family member with legal rights.

 Attorneys for the family say there is plenty of evidence to show that neither claim is true. Gordon has said nothing, including anything about what happened to Bobbi Kristina before she was found face down and unresponsive in her bathtub in January, similar to her mother's bathtub death three years ago.

 The article reports that law enforcement officials in Georgia have not determined if they will bring charges against Gordon, but the case is still under investigation. Nonetheless, without any criminal charges, Bobbi Kristina's conservator is claiming in civil court that Gordon is a liar, a thief, a batterer—maybe even a killer. The conservator was appointed by a state family court to protect Bobbi Kristina's assets while she is incapacitated. The court papers claim that Gordon was at one point accused of making threats and was under a restraining order to stay away from Bobbi Kristina's relatives.

 Bobbi Kristina is worth millions from the trust Whitney established for her in her will. However, the remainder of Whitney’s sizable estate goes to Bobbi when she turns 30. If Bobbi dies before that, Whitney’s will dictates that those millions revert to the Houston family. Although that scenario may set up a fight between the Houstons and Browns, both sides agree that Gordon should get nothing.

 This is a proactive move, the article says, because the family is concerned that Gordon will claim he's entitled to some piece of her estate. But Bobby Brown said that Gordon was never married to Bobbi Kristina, and common-law marriage is not recognized in Georgia. Nonetheless, the family might just settle with him to make him go away.

Contact John M. Lane Law, PLLC to discover the Simplified Solution to your estate planning needs. Everyone has an estate, no matter how large or small, complex or simple.  For more information about how we can help you, visit our website at www.JohnLaneLaw.com.

 Reference: USA Today (June 28, 2015) “Lawsuit start of big trouble for Nick Gordon”

Visitation Rights to Children of Ailing Parents

It's the quirky Christmases Catherine Falk remembers the most.  "To us, he wasn't 'Columbo.' He was dad," she told FoxNews.com of her famous father Peter Falk. "He wasn't in character. He was the character. He was genuinely this bumbling, goofy, absent-minded guy who was so funny and loved his family," Catherine Falk, remembered with a laugh. "We'd give him these Christmas presents and he'd put them in his trunk and forget about them. Then the next Christmas would come around and he'd open the trunk of his Mercedes and there they'd be, all the presents from last year." The all-around funny family man would go on to create many happy memories with those closest to him. But when he got sick, things got complicated. His children accused his wife of alienating him. They said they weren't allowed to talk to or see him and were denied any information about his health. It's a case that's being played out in thousands of households in America.

Across the country, there's been a noticeable increase in adult children being denied access to their ailing parents. States are beginning to take notice and drafting legislation to open up visitation rights to children, according to a Fox News story titled“'Columbo' daughter pushes for bill that protects the right to visit sick parents.”

In Falk’s case, she and her stepmother were locked in a court battle over conservatorship and access to Peter for years. In 2008, he became completely incapacitated from his advanced dementia. Catherine then decided to create the Catherine Falk Organization, which advocates for the rights of adult children to see their sick parents.

Catherine was able to get an order for visitation from a court that was made at the complete discretion of the judge. Conservators in California currently don’t have to inform family members on the health, hospitalization or death of a relative. Part of the problem, California Assemblyman Mike Gatto said is the frequent tension between the second or third spouse and the children of the first marriage. That conflict often gets worse when a parent becomes sick. (Remember Casey Kasem?)

Current California law gives the rights relating to the care of loves ones to the spouse. Children have no legal way to arrange visitation with their ailing parents, to receive notice of hospitalization or even the death of their mom or dad. Children also have no access to information on the funeral arrangements.

Gatto’s bill, if passed, seeks to reverse the law and create a new legal process for adult children to ask the court to visit a parent under care who is not in a conservatorship. The Assemblyman thinks it will pass and hopes this law will be a blueprint for other states considering similar measures to help ailing seniors.

An experienced elder law attorney can help make arrangements to keep the family peace should that time come for your family.

Contact John M. Lane Law, PLLC to discover the Simplified Solution to your estate planning needs. Everyone has an estate, no matter how large or small, complex or simple.  For more information about how we can help you, visit our website at www.JohnLaneLaw.com.

Reference: Fox News (June 7, 2015) “'Columbo' daughter pushes for bill that protects the right to visit sick parents”

Conservatorships and Guardianships: What’s the Difference?

Bobby Brown and Pat Houston will be co-guardians for Bobbi Kristina Brown. Their attorneys said in a statement Friday that Bobby Brown and the sister-in-law of Bobbi Kristina’s late mother, Whitney Houston, spent a day in court working out the agreement. “We are delighted to inform the public that the court has appointed Bobby Brown and Pat Houston as co-guardians of Bobbi Kristina Brown (‘Krissi’),” read a statement issued by David Long-Daniels, counsel for Pat Houston and Cissy Houston, and Christopher Brown, an attorney for Bobby Brown. “Both Mr. Brown and Ms. Houston are jointly responsible for decisions related to Krissi’s care and medical needs.”

ABC News Radio recently reported in a story on its website, titled “Bobby Brown Granted Co-Guardianship of Bobbi Kristina,” that a court-appointed attorney will act as a conservator for the 22-year-old. The attorney specializes in fiduciary litigation, probate and estate administration, estate planning, personal injury and wrongful death cases, as well as general civil litigation.

As conservator, the attorney “is responsible for Krissi’s assets, including her likeness, rights and legal claims,” according to the statement read by attorneys for the family.

The judge for the probate court of DeKalb County in Georgia confirmed in paperwork from April 24 that Brown’s guardianship petition had been received.

Probate courts have jurisdiction over the appointment and supervision of guardians and conservators of adult persons who have been found to be so incapacitated by reason of physical or mental illness that they are no longer capable of making reasonable and rational decisions concerning management of their own money and property. Guardians make decisions concerning the person, and conservators manage and make decisions concerning the person’s income and property.

Conservators must be bonded for the value of all income and personal property of the person, and guardians also may be required to post bond. Guardians for an incapacitated adult in Georgia are required to file annual reports on the physical and mental status of the ward. Similarly, conservators must file an inventory of assets, an asset management plan, and annual financial accountings—all of which are subject to review or audit by the probate court.

Cissy Houston, Bobbi Kristina’s maternal grandmother, told “Entertainment Tonight” last week that Bobbi Kristina is “not progressing at all.” Houston said, “She’s not gone yet, but you know, whatever the Lord decides, I’m ready for her…I have nothing to do with that. That’s His job. It’s His territory, you know? And I understand it.”

Bobbi Kristina was hospitalized in January 2015, after she was discovered unresponsive in a bathtub in her home. She was moved into a rehabilitation facility in March.

Questions about Conservatorships and Guardianships? Contact John M. Lane Law, PLLC to discover the Simplified Solution to your estate planning needs. Everyone has an estate, no matter how large or small, complex or simple.  For more information about how we can help you, visit our website at www.JohnLaneLaw.com.

Reference: ABC News Radio (May 11, 2015) “Bobby Brown Granted Co-Guardianship of Bobbi Kristina”