FINANCIAL, MENTAL & EMOTIONAL EXPLOITATION OF THE ELDERLY, THE INFIRM & OTHER VULNERABLE ADULTS

It is widely known that a large portion of Florida's population is of retirement age or older.  It is also widely known that as we age we experience a decrease in our mental and physical abilities.

At some point in the aging process people begin to forget things, they have difficulty getting around without assistance, and they may become confused and disoriented.  Such individuals often depend on others to assist them, and they become increasingly susceptible to the influence of other people in their environment.  

In Florida such individuals are known as "vulnerable adults".  This term also includes an adult who has limited or reduced abilities due to a traumatic injury, a birth defect or advanced disease.  

In a perfect world our vulnerable adults would be cared for with compassion and understanding -- after all, we may find ourselves in that condition one day.

However, the reality is that there are myriad predators in our communities which see vulnerable adults as easy prey.  Without strong laws and Court intervention to enforce those laws, vulnerable adults would be exploited with impunity.

REAL LIFE SITUATIONS:

EXAMPLE 1.    A 78 year old man, a widower for 20 years, was living alone in a small one bedroom apartment.  Unable to walk and suffering from diabetes and the beginning stages of Alzheimer's, he had hired a home health care company to provide him with a home health care worker each day from 9:00 AM until 5:00 P.M.  Although he was only receiving social security and medicare benefits, he was able to afford great care because he had more than half a million dollars in his bank account.   Unfortunately, the home health care workers had access to his mail, and one of them saw his bank account statement.  As the man became increasingly ill and disoriented, this person hired to help him began to insinuate herself into his personal life and eventually became the man's friend and confidant.  The man trusted her completely, and at her suggestion, he added her name to his bank account so that she could better help him "manage his money".  She had promised the man that she could "make millions" by investing his money for him.  Well, you can guess what happened next.     

EXAMPLE 2.    An 82 year old widow was residing in an ALF (assisted living facility).  Her husband had been a successful business owner before he passed 11 years ago.  When he passed, he left her with more than a million dollars cash and a stream of income from various rental properties.  Well, a middle aged woman living in the neighborhood volunteered her time at the ALF, ostensibly because she "cared".  Unfortunately, our widow, although physically in perfect health for someone her age, was suffering from the beginning stages of dementia, was often confused and had memory problems.  Our "do-gooder" volunteer had the widow sign various deeds, transferring the widow's rental properties into her name.  The "do-gooder" then promptly sold these properties to a BFP (bona fide purchaser) for fair market value and pocketed all the cash.  She also gradually transferred several hundreds of thousands of dollars to a joint bank account before her actions were uncovered by one of the nurses at the ALF.

Fortunately, Florida has enacted laws which not only criminalize such behavior, but also allow the vulnerable adult, or someone acting on their behalf, to sue the wrongdoer for damages and to recover the stolen property.  In addition, the statute allows for the Court to impose punitive damages and to make the losing party pay the attorneys' fees of the winning party.  The Bonham Law Firm can assist you in your efforts to recover your stolen property, or the stolen property of someone you care about,  as well as to make the wrongdoer pay for their actions.