CSA Ethical Issues for Seniors 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An elderly client tells you she wants to give her entire savings to a televangelist. What is the most ethical first step?
- Report her to Adult Protective Services immediately
- Assess whether she has cognitive impairment affecting her decision-making capacity (Correct answer)
- Advise her family to take legal control of her finances
- Honor her decision without question since she is an adult
Correct answer: Assess whether she has cognitive impairment affecting her decision-making capacity
Assessing decision-making capacity is the first ethical step before taking any further action regarding a potentially harmful financial decision.
Question 2: Which principle most directly governs a senior advisor's duty to avoid actions that harm clients?
- Autonomy
- Justice
- Nonmaleficence (Correct answer)
- Beneficence
Correct answer: Nonmaleficence
Nonmaleficence is the ethical principle requiring practitioners to avoid causing harm to their clients.
Question 3: A CSA discovers that a colleague is recommending unsuitable annuities to seniors for high commissions. What should the CSA do?
- Ignore it unless a client complains directly
- Report the misconduct through appropriate channels such as the CSA ethics board (Correct answer)
- Confront the colleague privately and take no further action
- Warn clients verbally but take no formal steps
Correct answer: Report the misconduct through appropriate channels such as the CSA ethics board
Reporting colleague misconduct through proper channels protects seniors and upholds the integrity of the CSA designation.
Question 4: Undue influence over a senior is most likely occurring when:
- A family member helps an elder complete paperwork
- A caregiver isolates an elder and is named sole beneficiary in a new will (Correct answer)
- An attorney prepares estate documents at an elder's request
- A senior voluntarily gifts money to a grandchild for college
Correct answer: A caregiver isolates an elder and is named sole beneficiary in a new will
Isolation combined with financial benefit to a caregiver are classic indicators of undue influence.
Question 5: A senior advisor learns that a 78-year-old client is being overcharged by a home repair contractor who is a friend of the client's son. This is best described as:
- A civil matter outside the CSA's scope
- A potential form of financial exploitation requiring further attention (Correct answer)
- Acceptable since the son approved the contractor
- A private family decision the advisor should not address
Correct answer: A potential form of financial exploitation requiring further attention
Overcharging a vulnerable senior by a trusted contact is a form of financial exploitation that a CSA is ethically obligated to address.
Question 6: When a senior's stated wishes conflict with what their family believes is best, the ethical standard is to:
- Side with the family because they know the senior best
- Follow the senior's wishes if they have decision-making capacity (Correct answer)
- Defer to the medical provider's judgment
- Seek a court order to resolve the dispute
Correct answer: Follow the senior's wishes if they have decision-making capacity
A competent senior's autonomous choices take precedence over the preferences of family members.
Question 7: Which situation represents a dual-role conflict of interest for a CSA?
- Recommending a government benefit program the client qualifies for
- Serving simultaneously as a client's financial advisor and the trustee of their estate (Correct answer)
- Explaining Medicare options to a new client
- Referring a client to a vetted elder law attorney
Correct answer: Serving simultaneously as a client's financial advisor and the trustee of their estate
Serving as both advisor and trustee creates a dual role where the CSA's personal interests or duties may conflict with the client's best interests.
CSA Ethical Issues for Seniors 2
An elderly client tells you she wants to give her entire savings to a televangelist.
What is the most ethical first step?