Mom Changes Her Estate Plan with New Probate Lawyer: how did mom’s investment firm worker & husband inherit ?

Uncategorized • Sep 6, 2015

Here is a case which will make family members, heirs at law and even some probate lawyers Palm Beach cringe. Whether or not you agree with the appellate opinion on this elder abuse case does not matter. Whether you agree with the State of Florida bringing criminal charges against a man for financial exploitation of an elderly person Florida does not matter. What you should consider doing is reading the facts of this case, and seeing what happened to a woman from Palm Beach County with a vast financial empire. On June 24, 2015, Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal reversed a conviction of a man who was found guilty of financial exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult Florida. He wanted to be acquitted, or get a judgment of acquittal, in this criminal case of Palm Beach financial exploitation. The Palm Beach Appeals court agreed with him and reversed the conviction. But read the facts, which makes people stop, and wonder: who is watching mom or dad and the money which has taken a lifetime to accumulate? Is anyone watching over and protecting mom or dad, particularly if they get dementia ?

Mother Changes Estate Planning Lawyers & Changes Estate Plan

This is a case where a man was convicted of financial abuse against a senior citizen Florida. That conviction was reversed.
The defendant and his wife were well acquainted with a rich woman from Palm Beach County named Mary.
The husband wife team got criminal charges filed against them and then put on trial.

What do I need to Know about Financial Abuse & Financial Exploitation in Florida?

Elder abuse and financial exploitation are both serious matters in Palm Beach; not only for law enforcement and appeals courts, but also family members.
Elder abuse is a crime, sure, but did you know that there are civil or Palm Beach probate remedies that family members can use to get stolen money returned? Can you bring the money back to the estate? Can you return taken money to the Palm Beach probate? Can you change the will back to what it was or file a will objection or will challenge Florida?
If you are the trustee of a Jupiter, Florida revocable trust, or perhaps a beneficiary of a Palm Beach probate or estate, ask your Florida estate lawyer how beneficiaries,heirs at law, adult children, sons and daughters, and even Delray Beach guardians, and widows can sue for civil theft, conversion, tortuous interference with aninheritance 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, the conviction 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 Acquittal

The defendant and his wife were well acquainted with this woman named 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
Is this one of the red flags or question marks for financial abuse?
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 !

Do the Facts Suggest Undue Influence or Dementia When the Estate Plan Was Changed?

The defendant and his wife KNEW Mary was rich
The defendant chauffeured Mary on errands
Did Mary have the proper mental capacity to sign the estate planning documents? There was conflicting evidence before the jury at the financial exploitation case in Palm Beach County
What type of evidence do you need to convict someone of financial exploitation?
Family members often tell people that they were not there, not physically present, to see the financial abuse, or the taking advantage of an elderly person with dementia. Does this matter?
Sure, but….. guilt may be proven by circumstantial evidence. Bottom line: if a family member sees radical changes to mom or dad’s estate plan, with a new probate or estate planning lawyer that mom or dad did not choose, and a new beneficiary of the estate, who happens to be a “good friend” of the new estate planning attorney, that raises a host of questions.
Some other facts which were involved in this financial abuse Palm Beach case?
The defendant had a long standing relationship with Mary and should have knownthat Mary was incapacitated, so the State argues
The defendant drove Mary to the new estate planning or new probate lawyer Florida’s office where she signed the new estate documents
The State of Florida argued that the defendant and his wife waited until Mary had severe dementia to have the new Florida probate lawyer write or prepare the new estate plan, the amendments to her estate documents which made the defendant and his wife residual beneficiaries of the estate
2 weeks after they were given the power of attorney, they used the health care surrogate document to arrange for a mental health physician to conduct a court ordered mental competency of Mary: when in fact there was no such court order
Was Mary exploited by the defendant and his wife? The 4th DCA says that the evidence was insufficient.
What facts does the 4th DCA want to see? Was he awared that Mary was amending her estate documents to his benefit and his wife’s?
Did the defendant arrange for a supposed court ordered mental competency evaluation of Mary?
Did the defendant really know about Mary’s estate and her estate plan?
There appear to be questions about what was proven or not proven regarding knowledge or intent between the two defendants. What some may refer to as a conspiracy. But, alas, there is a presumption of innocence.
So, my question is: where were the children in all of this? If they were not competent, did a guardian or a trustee sue these people for tortuous interference with an expectancy of inheritance? Did they have the old will or estate plan put back in place? What some call having the old will or trust reinstated? We don’t know from the appellate opinion on this elder financial abuse case if Mary is even still alive or whether she has aguardian Palm Beach.
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)