The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published  guides to help financial advisors and other professionals, friends and relatives responsible for the finances of the infirm elderly perform their fiduciary duties.
 
The guides are entitled "Managing Someone Else's Money" and range from 23 to 27 pages. Separate guides have been issued for those with power of attorney, court appointed guardians, trustees and government fiduciaries--usually those with Social Security and Veterans Affairs. The guides offer advice on how to perform each of the specified roles as a fiduciary, including answers to frequently asked questions and other resources.
 
CFPB Office of Older Americans Senior Policy Adviser Naomi Carp said the guides were created because close to 30 million Americans have guardianship and power of attorney--duties often performed by people who don’t know the responsibilities tied to those roles.
 
While many of the responsibilities are similar, she added, there are important differences in the obligations because people with powers of attorney and trustees are privately appointed while guardians are designated by the courts and Social Security and Veterans Affairs fiduciaries are named by government agencies.
 
Online versions of the guides can be found here.
 
To order paper copies, click on this link.