Stan Lee’s tumultuous end-of-life events: What can be done?

By: Alec Fraggos, Law Clerk at Peck Ritchey, LLC

Much of Stan Lee’s life was marked by adventure, creativity, and fame. The writer, editor, publisher, and producer took on several roles beyond what marked his career success. Lee was a father, husband, and philanthropist. However, the end of Lee’s life is a stark reminder that financial exploitation can happen to anyone, regardless of income, resources, and educational attainment. While Lee’s estate was likely carefully crafted and well thought out, few could have predicted that Keya Morgan, Lee’s business manager, would seek to exploit Lee’s cognitive decline for his own financial gain. Yet, Lee’s tragic end-of-life events remind those in the estate planning and health care industries of one crucial fact: exploitation, especially financial exploitation, occurs in the shadows. And, despite the excitement and fame that marked most of Lee’s life, the end of his life, like so many other elderly Americans, was marred by conflicts surrounding his affairs, both personal and financial. 

This article aims to address some of the ways in which aging populations and their caretakers can prevent situations like those Lee experienced. In doing so, this article seeks to identify how financial exploitation is typically carried out and how it can be prevented. The piece will then look to how the State of Illinois has dealt with the financial exploitation of the elderly and how the state ranks within the United States. The final part is an analysis of how seniors and their families can take steps to prevent financial exploitation, with families standing on the front lines of protecting their loved ones.  

Like so many elderly Americans, Lee’s former business associate, Keya Morgan, financially exploited Lee in isolation. Morgan “isolated lee from his family and longtime associates, seized control of his finances, misappropriated millions in assets, coerced him into public appearances, and restricted access to family members and those who had supported Lee for decades.” An April 2018 YouTube video captured the extent of Lee’s cognitive decline. Lee attended the Silicon Valley Comic Con, accompanied by Morgan. As attendees gathered to catch a glimpse of Lee, he was seen struggling to sign his name. Morgan, alongside Lee, “spoke to Lee as if he were a child, schooling him on how to spell his name. ‘Stan Lee. S-T-A-N…’ Morgan spelled it out again and again.” Unlike most elderly Americans suffering from cognitive decline, Lee’s struggles were at times publicly documented. However, like Lee, America’s elderly population, especially those experiencing cognitive decline, deserve protection. While the law plays a key role in providing these protections, loved ones stand on the front lines of protecting the elderly.

As of 2024, the Illinois Adult Protective Service (APS) reports that of the types of abuse investigated, financial exploitation remains atop the list. Of the types of abuse investigated, financial exploitation accounts for 25.05% of all categories listed.  According to 2022 FBI reports, Illinois seniors were “swindled out of a record $79.5 million, up from $5 million in 2014.” More alarming is the fact that nationally, only 1 in 44 elder financial abuse cases are even reported. Broadly speaking, Illinois has its work cut out in protecting the elderly from financial exploitation. Illinois ranks 49^th among states in the number of “suspicious banking transactions per capita reported against older adults by financial institutions.” Moreover, Illinois is also among only “six states without its own force of investigators to look into exploitation cases, saving money by contracting with about 40 local service agencies to do that work.” 

Despite the bleak picture these statistics paint, Illinois has not neglected to implement measures to protect its elderly population from financial abuse. The Bankers and Seniors Against Financial Exploitation (B*SAFE) program was developed in 2001 through a collaboration of law enforcement and state agencies, “to address to growing problem of financial exploitation.” In many instances, seniors prefer to bank in-person as opposed to online, with many seeing “the same teller who routinely handles his/her financial transactions each time he/she visits the banking facility.” B*SAFE educates the teller “on potential signs of financial exploitation.” Illinois also created the Elder Abuse Task Force which consists of a “22-member committee consisting of agency heads, elder abuse experts, legislators, and law enforcement.”Illinois has its work cut out, but the task of protecting its elderly from financial abuse is not impossible. 

The American economy continues to digitize at rapid rates, and America’s elderly population is at a steep disadvantage. As the aging generation of baby boomers continue to live alone, America’s elderly face an unfamiliar and for many, daunting digital economy. 2022 reports estimated that 26 million Americans over the age of 50 are living solo, “making this the quickest-growing demographic in the U.S.” What’s more, by 2030, “all baby boomers will be over the age of 65.” Isolation of the elderly, as evidenced by Lee’s case, poses a slew of dangers, especially financial. Elder abuse also increases physical risks to the exploited as, “elder abuse was associated with greater risk of mortality.” Protecting the senior population from financial exploitation requires protection prior to when capacity begins to decline or diminish. 

For seniors with diminished or diminishing capacity, families can take steps to protect their loved ones from financial abuse. The American Bankers Association (ABA) recommends that seniors should not rush into financial decisions, and that seniors should ask for details in writing while also obtaining a second opinion. Additionally, seniors and their families should form a relationship with their banks and those individuals who handle their finances. Perhaps more importantly, it is critical that seniors and their families regularly review credit reports, refrain from giving personal information, including Social Security Number, account number or other financial information to anyone over the phone unless the senior or family member initiated the call and trust the other party. While this list is not exhaustive and addresses only a few ways seniors can protect themselves from financial exploitation, families provide a strong first line of defense. 

Stan Lee’s case is not uncommon and is certainly not the last case in which a senior is taken advantage of financially by a trusted individual. However, for seniors and their families, there is hope. Financial exploitation is preventable. Seniors can put themselves in the best position by consummating an estate plan as early as practicable, forming a trusted relationship with their financial advisors and fiduciaries, and cultivating a transparent relationship with loved ones whom the senior trusts. Stan Lee’s case is not only a reminder that families play a key role in the protection of their loved ones, but that thorough estate planning is but one major step to preventing the kinds of end-of-life turmoil that marred Stan Lee’s final years. 

The Law firm of Peck Ritchey, LLC, affiliated for many years with the Illinois Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, has recently been named the Legal Education Partner of the Association. Kerry Peck, Managing Partner of Peck Ritchey, LLC serves as Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law and previously as President of the Chicago Bar Association. Mr. Peck is Co-Author of Alzheimer’s and the Law and Don’t Let Dementia Steal Everything, books which he wrote at the request of the American Bar Association. Kerry Peck served on the Association’s Board for many years and the Law Firm was honored last year by the Alzheimer’s Association. Peck Ritchey LLC is a one-stop shop for families navigating the devastating effects of a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease.