According to a recent Sun Sentinel article, 3,041 Adult Protective Services cases were investigated from April 2015-March 2016 in Palm Beach County. 588 of these cases were financial exploitation cases. Financial exploitation of the elderly is more common than you think throughout South Florida. It is important to be aware of these issues in case someone tries to take advantage of your parent who has Alzheimer’s or Dementia.
Florida Probate Litigation and Financial Exploitation
- If you are concerned that a relative or friend is being financially exploited, you should know that there are criminal laws in Florida that punish a person for financially exploiting the elderly.
- Financial exploitation is frowned upon to a great degree in Florida.
- In fact, the State Attorney’s Office and law enforcement have special economic crime units that can help discover and combat these crimes.
- A probate litigation lawyer West Palm Beach can tell you that there are also civil remedies under Florida Law that can be used to recover damages or properties that have been through financial exploitation.
- But the problem for some Florida estate lawyers is that, sometimes, a family member is the financial predator.
- Probate attorneys do their best to understand a client’s needs and, as they age, how their estate plan may or may not be changed or altered over time.
- Changing who inherits from your Palm Beach estate is just one way a financial abuser or predator can try to get your money.
- Sometimes, it is the financial abuser or financial predator who really caused the elderly client Florida senior citizen to go to a new Palm Beach estate lawyer and change his or her estate plan: in favor of the one who is doing the financial exploitation.
Elderly Man in Deerfield Beach, Florida is Financially Exploited
- On August 13,2016, the Sun Sentinel reported about a woman who financially exploited a South Florida elderly man.
- Jack Adler met Fatima Williams in Costco.
- He was 89 years old and she was in her early 40’s.
- They started “dating”, which consisted of her and him getting together for lunch a few times a week.
- They would withdraw money from Adler’s bank account at the ATM for Williams.
- $129,600 was withdrawn.
- Adler’s son says that his father did not show any of the normal signs of dementia so he hadn’t thought this would ever happen to him.
- To read the entire article, click here.