Of the types of guardianship activities that are penalized by the court, one of the most common is for outrageous fees for simple activities, she pointed out.
For instance, charging $250 an hour for taking the senior out to lunch.
A guardianship that stretches for years, say for an Alzheimer’s patient, poses the threat of draining a client’s money and the stamina of an advisor.
“The duties can be exhausting,” Uekert said.
In the end, Jane Gildersleeve, who heads the National Guardianship Association, said the foremost problem for a financial advisor considering whether to become a guardian for a client without a family can be a professional bias on what constitutes an individual’s lack of ability to handle his or her financial affairs.
Gildersleeve noted advisors are trained to look at financial decisions dispassionately, and they may be quick to unfairly believe a client has dementia if she spends money in a way that doesn't make sense from a strict accounting point of view. Money is one of the greatest sources of passions in life, and a spending decision may be the result of her passions rather than dementia, she said.
Warning: Guardianship Can Take A Toll On Advisor’s Psyche
December 19, 2016
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I agree with the comments made here by the experts. I would add that Banks should not be appointed as guardians/conservators either, but they often are. The feedback I have heard from financial planners is that they are frustrated because many have a long-term relationship of trust with their clients, and have worked hard to develop a successful portfolio – only to have the entire account seized by the Bank guardian/conservator and reinvested at the Bank in low paying/low maintenance accounts. The person in guardianship’s income plummets (often resulting in a move to a lesser facility) while the Bank makes money by having the funds in their Bank (which should be a conflict of interest) and also their duties as guardian. Join the national movement for reform of unlawful and abusive guardianships and conservatorships. Join NASGA!