Professional Responsibility and Seniors: Advisor Guidance for Ethical Practice

concerns may arise about whether the engagement is self-serving
and directed to personal enrichment of the “helper.”
• The significant compliance and legal risks, complexity, and costs
associated with handling seniors’ accounts. Advisors and firms may
inadvertently be drawn into family matter disputes. One example cited
was the interposition of a new third party into an account relationship
as the result of a personal relationship with the client that other family
members objected to. Another example identified was legal
responsibilities when acting on so-called “deathbed” requests to
transfer accounts to joint ownership to avoid probate taxes or liability
for acting on purportedly valid legal powers of attorney.
• Maintaining up-to-date account documentation, including new client
information and Power of Attorney upon the death of a spouse.
• The difficulty of after-the-fact adjudication of disputes and complaints
involving senior investors. The client may no longer be alive or
capable of providing a statement and, as a result, assertions can be
made by other interested parties (e.g. beneficiary, estate trustees)
about what “should have” been done. Documentary evidence of
numerous and complex interactions can be critically important in such
cases.
• Older investors may be targets for financial abuse. This can come
from unknown third parties, community members, friends, and
relatives. Advisors and firms should be aware of the issues, and
although their ability to prevent clients from being financially taken
advantage of by third parties is limited, they can be a trusted
checkpoint. For instance, advisors can encourage older investors to
forward emails to them that appear to be vishing, and the advisor can
verify the authenticity of the email.
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