What is a Fiduciary and their Duties?

What is a Fiduciary and their Duties?

An elderly person sometimes is in need of a fiduciary to handle their assets, and other important business affairs. When a client needs this service I recommend Chris Wright

Definition:  

A person or legal entity (firm, bank, credit union) holding assets (cash, property, securities) or information as an agent-in-trust for a principal (stockholder, customer, member).  A fiduciary owes the duty of loyalty, full disclosure, obedience, diligence, and of accounting for all monies handed over by the client.  Law demands a fiduciary to exercise highest degree of care and utmost good faith in maintenance and preservation of the client’s assets and rights and imposes compensatory as well as punitive damages on the erring fiduciary.

The word “fiduciary” comes from the Latin word fiducia, or “trust”.  So, a fiduciary is someone in a position of trust.  Fiduciary responsibility means acting in the other party’s best interest, giving the assignment the highest level of care possible.

What are the Responsibilities of a Fiduciary?  

• Afiduciary has a “duty of care” to make sure that they are doing their best for their client,

• Hiring competent experts who can give expert advice in their specific fields

• Acting with undivided loyalty and utmost good faith

• Providing full and fair disclosure of all material facts, defined as those which “a reasonable investor would consider to be important”.

• Not misleading clients

• Avoiding conflicts of interest (such as when the advisor profits more if a client uses one investment instead of another or trades frequently)

• Not using a client’s assets for the advisor’s own benefit or the benefit of other clients

Activities of the Fiduciary:

• Find and assist the appropriate healthcare professionals to assess the client’s health and mental state

• Assist in determining what type of care is currently needed (visiting healthcare personnel) and what will be needed in the future (moving to an assisted living option)

• Review health and medical programs (Medicare, Medical, Bridge Medical policies, VA benefits)

• Review finances (Pensions, Social Security, Disability, bank accounts, property and physical assets)

• Arranging for the sale of a home and liquidation of physical assets via estate sale.

• Apply for benefits not currently in place but for which the client is eligible

• Determine what the end of life decisions are of the client.  Making sure those wishes are viable and that those who needed to be contacted are

• Determining whether the client needs a will or a trust.  If these documents already exist, reviewing them for update if necessary

• Keep in contact with the client by visits (twice a month at a minimum) weekly phone calls to the client or to the facility and the primary caregiver

• Providing for the client the peace of mind that they have all they need and most of what they want

• Provide money reconciliation for the client and family on a monthly or quarterly basis

• Keeping family appraised of changes in circumstance or health issues of the client

• Hire the appropriate experts in those areas where they are needed (tax preparation, attorney for wills and trusts, healthcare professionals for assessments)

• Providing the information needed by those hired on behalf of the client for taxes, legal matters and healthcare assessments

• Skillsets provided by Money Management Resources (MMR)

  • Forty-three years as a Private Investigator with an expertise in reading body language, de-escalating of hostile individuals and fraud investigations

  • Availability of personnel.  We have a one to three ratio of personnel to client

  • Strong historic contacts in the areas of law, accounting and healthcare professionals

  • On site Notary for legal documents

  • Acting as an advocate for clients who have issues with their living arrangements or healthcare professionals

  • Vary our one on one contact with the client based on their changing needs

  • Strong bookkeeping skills (a banker on staff)

  • Strong background in dealing with the Social Security Administration, the Veterans Benefits Department local city assistance

  • We cover four counties (Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino)

  • Strong people skills to deal with an age group that is often frightened, obstinate, and vocal

Alliance Family Advocates

Rosemary De Cuir Alliance Family Advocates

Rosemary De Cuir, Alliance Family Advocates - Geriatric care consulting and advocacy; dementia coaching and family mediations.  Clients typically are adult children or spouses of seniors experiencing difficulty due to chronic health conditions, cognitive or emotional decline.  Services include

• thorough needs assessment,

• family meeting and comprehensive plan of care tailored to individual need. 

• Stress management guidance and special expertise and assistance in handling complex challenges including caregiver fraud and family discord. 

  Author of "Coping With Dementia - What Every Caregiver Needs To Know" and pending release of "The Caregiving Con" guide to spotting and stopping elder fraud. 

  www.Alliancefamilyadvocates.com (714) 393-7192.

  University lecturer, public speaker,  Outstanding Senior Care Professional ,

  finalist - Senior Care Hero Awards 2017

Trusted Senior Placement, Inc

Trusted Senior Placement, Inc. exists to assist Seniors and their families in identifying their needs and making an appropriate and successful placement in the care community.

Trusted Senior Placement, Inc. was founded by Teresa Jepsen, M.A, as a response to the growing need to connect Seniors with high quality care placement options. Teresa has a Master’s Degree in Gerontology and offers nearly two decades of experience in the professional care community.

Teresa is a Professional Geriatric Care Manager. She is a former owner and Administrator of a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) and was a regular consultant and staff trainer for a number of RCFE’s in the Orange County area over the last 10 years. She has been an instructor for three RCFE licensing schools preceding the launch of Trusted Senior Placement, Inc. Recently Teresa resigned from a fourteen year adjunct teaching position at Vanguard University to grow the services of TSP, Inc

During graduate school Teresa experienced and observed first hand the challenges of personal care and commitment to an aging loved one as she helped care for her husband’s grandmother, Marie Rose Jepsen.

Teresa Jepsem

During Marie’s last days she had to enter a care facility. Life sometimes leads in interesting ways. After Marie’s passing, Teresa then joined the facility’s professional staff. She considers it an honor to assist other families in their journey of care for their loved one.

Seniors & Families Deserve More

Seniors and their families deserve more than a cold call to a referral agency producing a mega fax list of their personal information to numerous facilities. The only criteria for the agency may be solely that these facilities possess a “license” to operate. You deserve a professional assessment of your loved one, true facility evaluations, and a qualified rating of the care and compatibility of both resident and facilities. This cannot be accomplished by simply relying on the existence of an LIC state operating number.