Public Service Announcement: "Combatting Financial Exploitation: A New Tool"

Regular readers of this blog know that preventing the financial exploitation of older or disabled folks is something that I am passionate about.  I've written and spoken on the topic frequently over the past couple of years.

This week, I had the privilege to join a distinguished panel of experts for a series of training webinars on combatting financial exploitation of the elderly and disabled.  The webinar was coordinated by the NC Administrative Office of the Courts (specifically, the inimitable Lori Cole), and included representatives of the NC Department of Justice (the ever-risible Raj Premakumar), UNC School of Government (the erudite Aimee Wall), NC Bankers Association (the staid Jan Dillon), and NC Department of Health and Human Services (the passionate triumverate of Nancy Warren, Renae Minor and LeShana Baldwin).  More than 300 participants registered, most of whom were lawyers, judges, clerks of court, financial professionals, and social services officials from all across North Carolina.

Here are a few quotes from participants who contacted us after the webinar to profide feedback:

"Thank you so much for all the great information I received with the combatting financial exploitation webinar class. This will help me to stay up to date with the new change." - an Assistant Clerk of Court

 "Thank you for an informative CLE!" - a County Attorney

 "Thanks for the program and the info!" - a County Attorney

 "The webinar today was a very good introduction." - an Assistant Clerk of Court

 "It was a very good program." - a Social Services Attorney

"The information was very helpful." - an Assistant Clerk of Court

For those who were unable to join us, a copy of the materials from the presentation is available here.

A video of the presentation will be available soon, and I will update this post to include it.

If you encounter circumstances that lead you to suspect the financial exploitation of an older or disabled person, whether in your professional life or your personal life, please report your suspicions appropriately. 

 

 

More on Elder Financial Abuse

I've written an article about North Carolina's new law designed to further protect older adults from financial exploitation, and it was published in Gray Matters (the official newsletter of the Elder & Special Needs Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association) this week.  You can read it here or here.

http://elderlaw.ncbar.org/media/29919677/elnovember2013.pdf

You might also be interested to read the first column in the newsletter, the Chair's Comments, in which Bob Mason and I discuss the effects of the new statute on estate and Medicaid planning.

My friend and law school classmate Mike Anderson has written a more technical piece about the new law for the Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section's newsletter, The Will and The Way, focusing on criminal liability and the ability of agencies to obtain a subpoena.  (Mike's practice includes fiduciary litigation.)

If you read the North Carolina Business & Banking Law Blog regularly, you may recall that I first wrote about the new law in August, with related posts in September (addressing federal agency guidance for financial institutions) and October (sharing a PowerPoint presentation from a speech I gave on the topic at a joint seminar of the NC Bankers Association and the NC Credit Union League).

More on Protecting Older North Carolinians from Financial Exploitation

I had the honor of speaking today about the new law designed to help protect older North Carolinians from financial exploitation at the Elder Financial Abuse Summit co-sponsored by the North Carolina Bankers Association and the North Carolina Credit Union League. 

We had a great turnout of financial services professionals from banks and credit unions across the state.  If you were not able to attend, I am sharing my handouts here.

 

Please feel free to share these materials with anyone associated with a financial institution so that they will be aware of the tools and protections financial institutions now have to combate elder financial exploitation.