Articles Posted in Guardianship

Jacksonville Guardianship Lawyer Kendal Schoepfer in our office prepared this Article which may help some prevent the need for a Florida Guardianship.

Florida Guardianship Court proceedings are currently in progress regarding the Florida Guardianship of the Second Man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin, in Florida. The proceedings were filed by two of his three children, Andrew Aldrin and Janice Aldrin, back in May.  His third child, James Michael, has remained out of the proceedings and has currently not taken a side. Andrew and Janice’s reasons for filing the guardianship of the second man on the moon is due to a claimed cognitive decline, claiming their father and the former astronaut is suffering from dementia, and Alzheimer’s which is causing paranoia, confusion, and making him susceptible to persuasion by others.

Buzz Aldrin, who is now 88 years old and who maintains he is still competent and able to make his own financial decisions, has fired back by filing his own lawsuit against his children claiming Andrew and Janice have stolen money from him and accused them of elder abuse and conspiracy. These claims are mostly surrounding their involvement in his company, Buzz Aldrin Ventures, where both Andrew and Janice hold high positions. Aldrin told Good Morning America that the day his children filed for guardianship over him was “the saddest thing that ever happened in my family” and that he “really felt that it really didn’t need to come to this.”

Exploitation of an elderly adult in Jacksonville, Florida is an all too often occurrence as well as across the entire state of Florida. Until recently, there was not much a person could do to stop it quickly when they suspected their elderly or vulnerable family member was being financially taken advantage of. This was a major problem. Before anything could be done to stop the exploitation, concrete evidence was required, and the money or asset that was taken, was too often unrecoverable by the time anything could actually be done. Thankfully, this is changing with the enactment of Florida Statute 825.1035.

Florida Statute 825.1035 allows for an injunction for the protection against the exploitation of an elderly adult or vulnerable adult. In order to get an injunction to stop the exploitation, the family member you believe is being financially exploited must be a vulnerable adult. In order to be considered a vulnerable adult for purposes of Florida Statute 825.1035, the individual must be 18 years or older, and be unable to perform normal activities required for daily living due to an impairment. The impairment can be because of a disability, injury, or aging. The Statute is meant to provide protection not only for elderly adults, but for any adult in Florida who could be financially taken advantage of due to any type of impairment. Continue reading

Warning Signs of Financial Abuse of the Elderly

Studies show that financial abuse of the elderly is a growing problem throughout the United States and especially here in Florida.  The overall population is aging, and persons over 65 years old control about one-third of the wealth in the United States.   This creates a big problem when you consider this group is much more susceptible to abuse due to health problems like dementia.

Estimates show that Americans loose nearly $3 billion a year due to financial abuse of the elderly from friends, loved ones, or even strangers.  This abuse comes in the form of financial abuse, scams, and other types of exploitation. The worst part is this type of financial abuse of the elderly is that it usually goes undiscovered until all an elder’s money is gone.

According to recent censuses and polls, experts project Americans that are 65-and-older will double over the next three decades due to a large number of baby boomers.  This means the current population of 65 and older persons should explode from the current rate of 48 million to almost 90 million by 2050.  This is an impressive statistic, but also a worrying statistic because as the population of elders increases, so does the potential for elder abuse.

Florida has one of the highest percentages of elderly residents in the United States, which also means there are more older people that can be abused.

So how does fraud against the elderly occur in Florida?