Opinion | Preventing elder financial abuse

The frightening Nov. 5 front-page article “He had a stroke at a gas station, then lost nearly everything” was truly depressing. In October 2017, the New Yorker published “The Takeover,” a lengthy exposé of the elder-abuse/phony-guardian system in Nevada. It described in sickening detail the shocking takeover of helpless people — some couples, not just individuals — by grifter “guardians” conniving with local “judges.” In Nevada, they got caught and prosecuted. I had hoped that was the of end it.

Obviously, when there are people who need a guardian, the state should be that guardian — for no profit, truly guarding the health and welfare of the helpless individual and truly conserving their assets. That would also involve searching for the individual’s (or couple’s) relatives. A judge should know that the state has search capabilities that a guardian doesn’t.

Bill O’Toole, Arlington

I recently retired as a trust executive in Florida with 48 years’ experience assisting elderly clients with financial and life-care issues. The Nov. 5 article about guardianship described a process that is debilitating and degrading to people and their families when confronted with an austere adjudication of incompetency in court. Some of my most rewarding work was reversing the process to obtain a restoration of capacity — albeit at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars.

The best technique for avoiding the need for a court-appointed guardian is a revocable living trust. The person creating the trust initially serves as his or her own trustee, with a provision for a successor trustee to serve when needed. The trustee has broad powers to manage and contract for services that protect and care for the individual. There are other techniques, but the revocable living trust is a great starting point.

Chris Gair, Fort Myers, Fla.

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Opinion | Preventing elder financial abuse