Gina Naranjo, Escrow Officer for Fidelity National Title, was contacted by one of her customers, a real estate broker, about a new listing. An elderly man with dementia was selling his home to move into a care facility to receive appropriate medical attention.

The man owned the property as his sole and separate property, but had appointed his elderly wife as his attorney–in–fact. The broker reached out to Gina to inquire whether there were any additional requirements which would need to be met since the documents would be executed utilizing a Power of Attorney (POA).

Gina remembered the wife. Just last year she handled the sale of the elderly woman's sole and separate property. The wife left an impression on Gina. She remembered her because she was in her 90s, alert and competent, but very stressed and tired from providing home care for her husband.

Gina worked closely with underwriting to determine whether the POA would be acceptable or not. There were some concerns because the POA was very old. Because the husband had dementia Gina was unable to confirm his intentions.

During the next several days Gina learned a lot about the couple. They have been married for more than 30 years and each spouse has children from prior marriages.

Underwriting agreed to rely on the POA as long as the husband's adult children signed an acknowledgement regarding the circumstances surrounding the sale and use of the POA. The children would not sign anything.

In an effort to find a solution Gina requested a copy of the husband's Will. The Will stated the house would go to his wife. If she was no longer alive the house would become the joint property of the wife's daughter and just one of his sons.

Gina and underwriting were re–evaluating the risk based on the new information. It was then the real estate broker called and expressed concerns about how the husband's children were treating the elderly wife.

Gina had her own concerns about how involved the daughter was in her mother's affairs. The daughter kept pushing to find a different title company. Gina consulted further with underwriting and was referred to three attorneys who specialize in family law and are experts in cases of elder abuse.

Gina shared the three attorney names with the real estate broker. The wife was thankful for the recommendations, contacted one of the attorneys on the list and she was glad she did.

The attorney discovered the daughter, who is the attorney–in–fact for her mother, had withdrawn some of the proceeds from the sale of her mom's house and deposited them into her personal account. The mother knew nothing about the transfer. The attorney is now representing the mother and is taking swift action to protect this elderly couple's funds and resources from their adult children.

Thanks to Gina's attention and caring, this potential episode of financial elder abuse was averted. Now when a buyer is found, Gina will be able to close the transaction knowing the POA is valid and she helped to preserve the equity the husband had in the property. For her extraordinary actions, Gina has been rewarded $1,500 and a letter of recognition on behalf of the Company.