I am the trustee/executor for my 103-year-old grandmother. She is alive and mostly doing fine. Lately, she has been allowing me access to her finances so there are no surprises when she dies.
I wonder if I have an avenue to challenge this firm. I have her power of attorney. If so, can I do this now?Your grandmother’s adviser was enjoying the halo effect. He presumably inherited the business from his father, shared his last name and probably shared some of the same features — in other words, he shared many things with his father, except, it seems, good judgment.
Finra operates the Office of Dispute Resolution, which acts as an arbitrator/mediator for members and investors in such matters, according to the law firm Haselkorn and Thibaut. “These claims do not involve depositions and are typically faster, more efficient, and less expensive than many alternative forums available,” it says.
Your grandmother’s adviser should, in theory, be able to stand behind his choice of investments. “But negligent advisers will sometimes steer you towards risky or unsuitable investments to obtain higher commissions,” the law firm notes. “If your financial adviser placed you in an unsuitable investment for any reason, you may be entitled to monetary recovery.”