10.12. Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults

In 2016, NASAA published a Model Act to Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation, the purpose of which was to empower IAs and BDs to take action when senior or disabled clients are being victimized. About two-thirds of the states have enacted into law some form of the Model Act. IAs and IARs are shielded from administrative and civil liability when they take action to prevent a vulnerable adult from being financially exploited, as long as they do so according to the rules laid out in the Model Act. The Model Act also includes rules for when and how possible financial exploitation must be reported.

The Model Act’s protections apply to vulnerable adults, also referred to as eligible adults. These include:

• Anyone aged 65 or over

• Anyone covered by the state’s Adult Protective Services laws

◊ This primarily means adults with a disability making them vulnerable to exploitation

◊ Depending on the state, this may include temporary conditions such a serious illness.

Note: You may wonder why minors are not protected by the Model Act. This is because states already have separate legal frameworks in place to protect minors that predate the recent push to beef up protections for adults.

The Model Act defines financial exploitation to include:

• Wrongfully taking, withholding, or appropriating the money, assets, or property of an eligible adult

• Any act undertaken to gain control of an eligible person’s money, assets, or property through deception, intimidation, or undue influence

• Any act undertaken to deprive an eligible person of the ownership, use, or benefits of their money, assets, or property through deception, intimidation, or undue influence

There are a couple things to note about how broad this definition of financial exploitation is. First, it not only includes outright theft, but also any misuse of a vulnerable adult’s money, assets, or prop