A big concern to elderly advocates in recent years has been abuse of power-of-attorney documents. The financial instruments, commonly used by senior citizens, authorize a relative or acquaintance to make transactions on their behalf.
In the hands of the unscrupulous, the powers can be used as leverage for self-profiting.
“Most powers of attorney allow you to loot at will,” said Catherine Seal, an elder-law attorney in Colorado Springs.
Before this year, no uniform state standards for the documents — various forms can be downloaded off the Internet — have been in place.
Growing reports of senior financial exploitation prompted a coalition of state attorney generals offices, advocates and attorneys such as Seal to win legislation this year to better protect elders. Gov. Bill Ritter has yet to sign the measure into law.
The regulations, set to go into effect in January 2010, place strict limits on how a relative or surrogate can use the document for gifting and other transactions. It also should help ease prosecution of cases by defining what the “agent” using the document can do.
“For many years, attorneys have been loath to place restrictions on these documents because 99 percent of the cases involve someone who is acting appropriately,” Seal said. “The problem for people like me and others is that we see the huge impact of the 1 percent and how they impoverish people, people who’ve saved money since the Great Depression.”
