"Grave" Problems Ahead: Looting Assets Of The Dead And Disabled

Whether outside a legal venue or with full oversight of the courts, age and/or incapacitation increases the potential for IRA targeting. IRA practitioners can be a known, trusted family member or friend or a stranger who works their way into a person’s life gaining their confidence along the way. It can involve lawyers, accountants, “professional” administrators or guardians, caregivers and others.

People knowledgeable of the probate business tell how making a living off the extraction of estate assets is an organized industry. How tragic to realize a lifetime spent accumulating assets and then clearly designating their final distribution can position one’s rightful heirs as targets for Involuntary Redistribution of Assets practitioners. Incapacitation or death should not signal “open season” on assets. It should not mean that when a person can no longer speak for him/herself, their wishes should be disregarded with the fruits of their labor awarded to parties unconstrained by ethics and adept at manipulating our legal system.

“Proper estate planning” is not an IRA inoculation. Those commissioned to document and execute final wishes sometimes become key figures in asset looting. An estate with limited resources provides no immunity. Wealth is relative. Modest estates can be appealing as IRA practitioners value parties who can be intimidated or convinced the prospect of a legal battle is cost prohibitive.

Involuntary Redistribution of Assets cases often stem from a guardianship, trust or will. Appointment of a guardian to oversee an individual’s affairs is a common IRA starting point. Per the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse, “In seeking to navigate the guardianship system, families too often experience frustrations in attempts to find assistance and to obtain justice in a seemingly unjust legal system. Legislative statutes are totally ineffective when judges and law enforcement agencies ignore them.