The Perils of Serving as a Financial Caregiver

At the invitation of the editor for the ABA Commission on Law and Aging‘s journal, Bifocal, I wrote a recent article on The Perils of Serving as a Financial Caregiver. I described a fundamental challenge:

What are the family dynamics? Will appointment of one individual create a trap whereby an overlooked or disgruntled offspring, sibling or spouse demands an accounting?  Even successful defense against a weak claim will involve costs to the financial caregivers and to the principal’s estate.  Family dynamics can also change over time, especially as feelings of resentment, guilt or denial begin to color relationships. Consider whether greater transparency within the family at all phases of the relationship involving handling of financial matters will deter later problems.

Using an article in the The New York Times today, my words of caution appear mildly framed, compared to the reality of what appears to be one family’s deeply embedded dynamic following the death of the parents, pitting two sons against a daughter and her husband over the family fortune in Arkansas.  

“I want this finished, over and done,” Sanders McKee [one son] said in his deposition. “I am tired of wasting my life. She needs to stop wasting her own. And I’m tired of this. I’m absolutely exhausted with it.”

 

But that was in August 2014, and the legal battle continues, costing all sides money and time. The Noels [daughter and son-in-law] estimated that they have spent $1 million on legal fees in the case, and they’re not resting. 

 

Aside from the cost, the case also demonstrates the strain being a trustee can put on family members.

For the full cautionary tale, read Are Millions Missing? Some Relatives Want to Know.  Others Don’t, by Paul Sullivan.

Hat tip to my Dickinson Law colleague, Professor Laurel Terry, for the pointer to this interesting New York Times  piece.