Elder Financial Abuse in Florida & Sumner Redstone’s Lawsuit

Has someone mis-used a power of attorney in Florida or taken a bank account away from an elderly person? Ask any Florida probate litigation law firm in West Palm Beach and they will tell you that you can try to recover stolen money by suing for civil theft, conversion and other elder abuse -specific lawsuits in Florida. In fact, Sumner Redstone, former Viacom chairman, is suing two of his ex-girlfriends for elder abuse among other things.

Financial Abuse of the Elderly in Florida

• Palm Beach probate litigators are frequently approached by family members and friends who believe an elderly person is being financially abused.
• Many Florida probate lawyers will first try to learn who a client’s financial advisors are, and who the closest family members to a client are.
• It can become a difficult situation because, sometimes, a family member or girlfriend/boyfriend is the financial predator.
• Probate attorneys do their best to understand a client’s needs, and  how their Florida estate plan may or may not be changed or altered over time.
• Very frequently, Florida estate planning attorneys will write a will for a client. Then years later, when the client is very elderly, the estate planning attorney will learn that the client went to a new lawyer and had the will changed. Did the client intend to change his will or was he unduly influenced? Unfortunately, these types of changes are often influenced by someone looking to inherit the client’s money.
• Getting someone to change who inherits from an elderly person’s will is just one way a financial abuser or predator can try to get money.
• Sumner Redstone’s lawsuit describes a different way that elderly abuse can occur.

Sumner Redstone Sues for Elder Abuse

• An October 25,2016 New York Times article reports that Sumner Redstone has filed civil claims against to of his ex-girlfriends.
• His lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
• In his claim he says that he was “forced to borrow $100 millions from the private company that holds his voting shares of CBS Corporation and Viacom to cover tax obligations on gifts he gave to the women.”
• To read the entire article, click here.