Breakout Session

Fighting Financial Exploitation: What Planners Can Do When the Perpetrator is a Client's Family Member

Speaker(s)

• MP

  Marit Peterson, JD

  Program Director
  Minnesota Elder Justice Center

Financial planners are at the front lines of our fight against financial exploitation; often working closely with families to protect resources across generations. But what happens when one family member takes advantage of another? These complex dynamics are familiar to most planners who have worked with families, and can be very difficult to navigate. This session will explore warning signs for financial exploitation when it happens within a family context, and examine the planner's unique opportunity to guide clients through these troubled waters. The session will discuss planning strategies that help keep our clients and their resources safe.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe modalities of financial exploitation within the family or trusted-person context, and dynamics within the those trust relationships.
• Identify applicable statutes that criminalize exploitative behavior by family members or family fiduciaries, and reporting strategies available to financial service providers.
• Develop strategies with clients regarding the most effective and most appropriate tools to use in nominating or appointing a family fiduciary, and the best way to create oversight within those tools.