Many elderly people can't afford the advice they need to ensure their financial assets aren't plundered by opportunists, an estate lawyer has warned.Hil DeFrias said seniors often add other people to their bank accounts to help manage their complicated estate planning — sometimes unwittingly granting the other party chance to withdraw their funds.The MJM Ltd lawyer said good guidance explaining the risks involved is too expensive for many seniors, meaning they have to rely on the honest nature of the person added to the account.He was speaking after Barbara Tannock, the vice president of private banking at Capital G, admitted stealing $76,500 from Alice and Vorhees Place, aged 86 and 93 respectively.Mrs Place had allowed Tannock to become her personal financial consultant, giving her control over the couple's bank accounts and ATM cards.That followed last month's conviction of sisters Lorraine and Audra-Ann Bean who added their names to their 87-year-old grandmother's bank account before siphoning off $500,000 for themselves.Reflecting on his experiences advising elderly people, Mr DeFrias told The Royal Gazette: “Generally I find seniors want to undertake some estate planning to ensure that their estate eventually passes to their intended heirs without too much fuss, complexity and costs.“It seems, however, that seniors often are unaware of the various options open to them to carry out such desires.“Upon learning of the options they find that most options are generally expensive to carry out and some are necessarily complex.”Mr DeFrias said often seniors choose a ‘middle ground' plan, such as adding someone to their bank account, which may save cash or make the process less complicated.But he said: “In so doing they leave their estate planning and estate open to other risks.“The middle ground option may result in some cost savings and avoid complex processes when the senior passes on but during the senior's lifetime he or she is dependant on other things/persons to ensure that the middle ground option is carried into effect.“An example of the middle ground option is adding someone to your bank account. This often used expression is misleading because you are actually making them a joint owner with rights to withdraw funds and use funds for personal purposes.“If this is not the intention then simply adding someone to your account can be a recipe for disaster.”He said many seniors add people to their accounts for estate planning purposes, to help pay bills or deal with day-to-day banking. However they are often not told of the risks.“So, this option often requires the senior placing their trust in the persons added to the account doing the right thing and using the funds for the proper purpose,” he said.The lawyer, who recently took part in a legal clinic for seniors organised by Age Concern, said security can be improved by taking advice and putting extra safeguards in place through more detailed estate planning.“Seniors need to be properly advised as to their estate planning options and risks to their estate,” he said.“The problem, if you can call it that, is that such comprehensive advice does not usually come cheap and many seniors find it difficult to afford such advice.“Further, the implementation of an estate plan based on such advice also costs.“The benefit is that a properly advised senior carrying out a well thought out estate plan and fully understanding the risks is usually much less at risk of having the estate plan go wrong due to the actions of others; and this usually means a savings to the seniors estate in terms of reduced legal fees and estate duty when the senior passes on.”Meanwhile, asked what policies it has in place to protect seniors from financial abuse, Butterfield Bank said it adheres strictly to ‘Know Your Client' requirements when establishing or amending bank, investment and trust accounts and credit facilities for customers.A spokesman said: “In addition, our employees are trained to watch for, and the Bank is obligated to report to the Office of Seniors (under legislation), suspicious circumstances concerning the accounts of seniors.“The Bank has routinely made such reports where circumstances have warranted this action.“Lastly, should a family member or friend of a vulnerable person suspect that inappropriate banking transactions are being effected using the vulnerable person's account, they can report their concerns to a staff member at any Butterfield Banking Centre and the issue will be escalated to the appropriate management resources for investigation.”An HSBC Bermuda spokeswoman said: “HSBC Bermuda values and respects its senior clients and continually reviews its terms and conditions and internal policies and procedures to ensure that it complies with not only the letter but also the spirit of the law.”Capital G did not respond to a request for a comment for this article.