Focus on Wealth Planning #6: Protection for vulnerable people
Protection for vulnerable people
Vulnerable adults, whether older people, people with disabilities, or people facing temporary hardship, often require assistance in managing their finances and wealth. Protecting these people, as well as their financial interests, is essential.
Legal protection measures: judicial safeguard, partial and full guardianship
Several arrangements exist to help vulnerable adults manage their wealth. Each one of these solutions is adapted to the individual needs and situation of the person.
Judicial safeguard provides temporary protection to adults who risk squandering their assets or acting against their own interests by assigning representation for specific acts.
The adult placed under judicial safeguard retains their legal capacity and can exercise their civil, civic and political rights. They can still buy, rent, sell or donate, but they are unable to validly perform any acts for which special representation has been assigned.
Protecting the personal and financial wellbeing of an adult who needs assistance or supervision in certain civil matters may require placing them under partial guardianship (‘curatelle’).
There are 3 forms of partial guardianship with varying degrees of protection and assistance.
Under simple partial guardianship, the adult retains autonomy over their daily affairs, while the guardian assists with more important acts.
Under amended partial guardianship, a judge determines which acts the adult can perform independently.
Under reinforced partial guardianship, the guardian helps with most important acts while also receiving the vulnerable adult’s income in an account in their name to pay everyday expenses.
Finally, if a person is no longer able to look after their own interests and requires continuous representation in all civil matters, full guardianship (‘tutelle’) may be the most suitable protective measure.
Family authorisation, future protection mandate and trust agreement
In addition to traditional judicial protection measures, other mechanisms or contractual arrangements can be considered to safeguard vulnerable adults and their assets.
Family authorisation is granted by a judge and allows certain close relatives to represent or help the vulnerable adult with their personal and/or financial matters to protect their interests. The level of protection will depend on the state of the protected adult’s faculties. The judge specifies the representative’s responsibilities, the acts concerned and the duration of the authorisation.
A future protection mandate allows the individual to arrange their own protection by designating one or more representatives to act on their behalf when they are no longer able to manage their interests in civil, personal and financial matters.
Lastly, a trust agreement can be used in specific cases to protect a vulnerable person’s wealth. This legal mechanism enables the person, or settlor, to temporarily transfer ownership of some of their assets or rights to another person, the trustee, to manage them on behalf of a beneficiary. The trustee must administer these assets in the sole interest of the beneficiary as per the instructions provided by the settlor in the trust agreement.
How we help you
Each one of these arrangements is designed to protect vulnerable adults with full transparency while respecting their wishes. They help prevent abuse and poor decisions, and ensure the careful management of their assets.
Societe Generale Private Banking’s wealth planners work with you, your advisors, notaries and legal counsel to discuss how best to protect you and your loved ones.
Would you like to discuss this subject further with us?
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