Texas Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawyer and Texas Financial Fraud Inheritance Lawyer Represents Families, Seniors, and Retirees Who Have Lost Significant Assets to Financial Advisors, Caregivers, and Other Opportunists by Texas Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawyer and Texas Financial Fraud Inheritance Lawyer Jason S. Coomer
Seniors, retirees, and the elderly have become the target of criminals and other opportunists, who take advantage of and sometimes steal significant assets. These opportunists illegally take approximately $37 Billion from seniors each year. In some situations where significant assets have been taken or are in the process of being taken, a Texas Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawyer and Texas Financial Fraud Inheritance Lawyer can take action to protect assets or seek return of assets. For more information on this issue please go to the following web pages: Texas Elder Financial Abuse Fraud Lawyer, Texas Guardian Fraud Lawyer, Texas Fiduciary Duty Fraud Lawyer, and Texas Financial Advisor Fraud Lawyer.
Financial Exploitation of Senior Citizens and Retirees is a Rapidly Increasing Crime
More and more elderly persons are becoming victims of financial fraud and financial elder abuse. Many of these acts of financial fraud, financial elder abuse, and exploitation of the elderly are committed by family members and caretakers that have access to an elderly person's finances. While some of these financial transfers are authorized by the elderly person, many are not. These opportunists illegally take approximately $37 Billion from seniors each year.
Texas Financial Elder Abuse Lawyer Jason Coomer handles Texas financial elder abuse cases, financial fraud cases, and alleged financial fraud cases by helping seniors and families protect wealth and reclaim wealth.
Texas Undue Influence Contests and Fraud Lawsuits Are on The Rise
Under Texas law a growing number of "gifts" and testamentary bequests are being questioned and contested including many gifts and bequests to employees, caretakers, strangers, and some relatives. In determining if the gift or bequest can be successfully contested, the court is going to look to see if the person had capacity to give the gift or testamentary intent to make a bequest, and if the person was under undue influence when making the gift or bequest. These determinations are fact issues that will be case specific and be dependent on numerous factors including the nature of the gifts; the giver's understanding of the gift/bequest and their relationship to the recipient; whether there has been any fraud or duress in the inducement in obtaining the gift/bequest; and if the gift was the result of drugs, alcohol, dementia, or a psychotic break.
Also, it should be kept in mind that in many situations where the giver is elderly and may be developing memory problems, it is common for the person to later forget about the gift or bequest. As such, in some situations it may be a good idea to properly document the gift or bequest to ensure that it can be proven that the gift or bequest was not the result of incapacity or undue influence. This can often be tricky as there may be disgruntled heirs that will later contest the gift or bequest regardless of the situation and the person receiving the gift may not be in the position to insist on proper documentation. However, consulting a lawyer regarding a large gift or bequest is typically a good idea. In these situations, the lawyer will typically want to meet alone with the person giving the gift or bequest to ensure that the person has capacity and is not under undue influence.
Scrooge The Day After, A Year After, and 5 Years After
In the story of Scrooge, we stop when he is still rich and in the process of giving. However, what happens the day after, year after, or five years after the spirit of generosity has taken over? For a lucky few they have so much money and wealth that it doesn't matter. They can give away hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars and still not see a change in their lives. However, for the majority people a year or two of giving can deplete their life savings.
What happens to these people? What if they have giver's remorse? What if they need their wealth back for medical or nursing home care?
For some under, it might seem like a good idea to give away large gifts, especially, to avoid potential estate taxes or to be able to qualify for future Medicaid benefits and avoid having a nursing home drain all of a family's assets. However, these issues must be considered carefully before anyone gives away their wealth and assets. Being without sufficient assets in case of a serious medical problem can create serious problems for someone that has made large gifts in the last 5 years. Under the Medicaid look back period, there is a 5 year look back period to qualify. If a person like Scrooge decides to give away their assets and then in a year or two requires nursing home or other health care benefits, they may regret the gifts. In most of these situations where the person made large gifts and now cannot afford medical care and nursing home care, the person cannot qualify for Medicaid benefits until these "gifts" are paid back. This creates a problem for the person that gave the gift and sometimes for the person that received the gift. Trust, loyalty, and communication are keys in these situations.
Likewise, what happens when the person is attempting to take advantage of gifts to avoid estate taxes. In these situations, the person gifting their assets will need to give up control of their assets to take advantage of the gift tax. Whether through out and out gifts or irrevocable trusts, it is important for the person intending to give large gifts to understand once they give the gift it is gone. They cannot take back the gift if circumstances change.
In most situations, it is important for the giver to understand the consequences of the gifts that they are giving especially if these assets may be needed in the future.
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