Article 6A.

Protection of Disabled and Older Adults From Financial Exploitation.

§ 108A-112.  Legislative intent and purpose.

(a) Determined to fight the growing problem of fraud and financial exploitation targeting disabled adults and older adults in North Carolina, the General Assembly enacts this Article to facilitate the collection of records needed to investigate and prosecute these incidents.

(b) The General Assembly finds that older adults in this State are at a statistically higher risk of being targeted for financial exploitation, regardless of diminished capacity or other disability, because of their accumulation of substantial assets and wealth compared to younger age groups.

(c) The General Assembly recognizes that financial institutions have duties imposed by law and by contract to conduct customer-directed transactions in a timely manner and in accordance with their customers' instructions.

(d) The General Assembly intends to provide financial institutions with the tools and protections to take action based upon the reasonable belief that older adults or disabled adults who have accounts with the financial institutions have been or are the subject of financial exploitation and to provide financial institutions and their employees immunity from liability for taking actions as authorized in this Article.

(e) The General Assembly intends to balance the rights of older adults and disabled adults to direct and control their assets, funds, and investments and to exercise their constitutional rights consistent with due process with the need to provide financial institutions the ability to place narrow, 30-day limited restrictions on these rights in an effort to decrease older adults' or disabled adults' risk of loss due to abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.  (2013-337, s. 4; 2026-31, s. 13.1(a).)