Financial Exploitation of Elderly Person Conviction Reversed: June 24, 2015 Palm Beach Appeals Court

If you are wondering what happens to people who commit financial exploitaiton of the elderly in Florida?  They get criminal charges filed against them and then put on trial.  Elder abuse and financial exploitation are both serious matters in Palm Beach; not only for law enforcement and appeals courts, but alsofamily members.  Elder abuse is a crime, sure, but did you know that there are civil or Palm Beach probate remedies in civil court that family members can use to try to get stolen money returned?  That’s right, if you are the trustee of a Boca Raton revocable trust, or perhaps a beneficiary of a Delray Beach estate, ask your Florida probate lawyer about howbeneficiaries, heirs at law and widows can sue for civil theft, conversion, tortuous interference with an inheritance or expectancy and fraud.  Anyway, here is a recent, June 24, 2015 Florida 4th District Court of Appeal case where someone was convicted of financial exploitation of the elderly, and then, on appeal, to the Palm Beach appeals court, theconviction was reversed and the motion for judgment of acquital should have been granted. Acquitted of financial abuse and financial exploitation of the elderly.  Here is a link to read the entire 4th DCA legal opinion on this Palm Beach financial abuse case: http://www.4dca.org/opinions/June%202015/06-24-15/4D13-1952.op.pdf

Vast Financial Estate in Palm Beach County Subject of Financial Exploitation Conviction and Acquital

• The defendant and his wife were well acquainted with this woman maned Mary
• Mary was very rich and elderly
• The wife worked at an investment firm and started helping Mary with her account in the 1980s.
• 1996:  Mary signs a will, creates a special needs trust and also a revocable trust
• If Mary was rich, had a vast financial estate, why is she creating a Florida special needs trust?
• Mary’s estate plan Palm Beach focussed on long term care of Mary’s adult sons, who were not capable of living.  (OK, so I guess the Florida special needs trust was for Mary’s sons).

Rich Elderly Palm Beach Woman Makes Multiple Changes to Her Estate Documents

• 2008: Mary starts to make multiple amendments to her estate documents Florida
• What was one of the differences to her estate plan?
• Mary’s multiple amendments to her estate documents were under the advice of adifferent attorney than the one who had drafted or written the original trust documents.
• The successor attorney was a “good friend” of the defendant’s wife !
• The defendant’s wife referred the estate planning business to that new attorney

Mary Amends Her Palm Beach Estate Plan: investment advisor and husband were now estate beneficiaries !

• So, what did Mary’s new estate planning documents say?
• Her investment firm person, that is, the defendant’s wife, and the defendant were now beneficiaries of the Palm Beach estate !
• Imagine that.
• The investment person refers Mary to a new estate planning lawyer who is a “good friend” and then the estate lawyer changes Mary’s Palm Beach estate plan so that his “good friend” and her “husband” are now estate beneficiaries !
• To read more about the facts of this prosecution and appeal of a financial exploitation case, you can read the entire opinion which is referenced above and by clicking on the link to the Florida 4th DCA opinions page.  The case is Javellana v. State of Florida, 168 So. 3d 283 (Fla. 4th DCA, June 24, 2015)