Beware of Posthumous Financial Crime
Financial abuse of the elderly is common, but this does not make it any less of an ordeal for the elderly people targeted by the abuse or for the family members who love them and worry about them. If you acted as a caregiver to a family member in his or her old age, you knew the signs of financial abuse and always had your eyes open for red flags. You may have gotten a power of attorney when your family member’s health became fragile, and before then, you probably read your family member’s bank statements carefully to look for suspicious transactions. As much as you wanted your family member to stay active socially, you knew not to let financially vulnerable people who seemed excessively eager to befriend your elderly family member get too close. If a family member of yours has recently died, your vigilance about his or her finances must continue until the estate settles. Financial abuse can happen to the estates of recently deceased people, too. For help preventing financial crimes against a recently deceased family member’s estate, contact a Washington, D.C. probate lawyer.
Preventing Breaches of a Deceased Family Member’s Digital Estate
Financial crimes such as identity theft often begin when a scammer gets access to the target’s devices or account passwords. Therefore, you should make sure that you know where the decedent’s password list is. You can even change the passwords and store the new ones where only you can find them. It is easy for paid caregivers or other people who frequently enter the decedent’s house to find the password list, or even to access the device, if they used to log into it with the decedent while he or she was alive.
If the decedent left instructions, in the will or elsewhere, about his or her digital estate plan, you should follow these instructions. If not, ask a probate lawyer to help you.
Keeping the Decedent’s House Safe Until Probate
The transfer of ownership of a house is always a stressful time, even when it does not coincide with grief over losing a close family member. Despite this, you must keep the decedent’s house secure until the heirs inherit it or you sell it during probate. Visit the house often, and install an alarm system if the house does not have one.
Recently Deceased People’s Social Security Numbers Are Easy Prey
The most important thing you can do to prevent financial crime against your deceased relative’s estate is to notify the Social Security Administration of the person’s death promptly. Do not wait for the coroner to do it, because that could take weeks. If you do not act quickly, someone could steal the decedent’s Social Security number and run up new debts that the probate estate would need to settle.
Contact Tobin O’Connor Ewing About Asset Protection Just Before Probate
A Washington, D.C. probate attorney can help you protect your deceased family member’s estate from financial crime. Contact Tobin, O’Connor, and Ewing in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.
Source:
msn.com/en-us/news/technology/5-non-obvious-things-you-must-do-quickly-when-a-loved-one-dies/ar-AA1u0QFu?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=8bf20181f7694c2ebf9398a24fefdba8&ei=19
