Forum Educates Advocates About New Legal Protections for Seniors

Cynthia J Arevalo, Gabie Goni, Buddy Helland, Brenda Centeno, Cathleen Pinson, Jessica Lodispoto

The Law Offices of Cynthia J. Arevalo, Value Care at Home & Presidential Place Assisted Living Facility hosted a lunch on August 9 for professionals working with our seniors to educate about Florida’s New Injunction for Protection Against Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults.  This law became effective on July 1st, 2018, and it’s the first of its kind in the nation. In summary, the new injunction law creates a legal process for a vulnerable adult, an organization acting on behalf of a consenting vulnerable adult, or a vulnerable adult’s court appointed guardian to ask a judge to temporarily freeze the assets in question AND prohibit contact between the vulnerable adult the exploiter.  

The law is applicable to an adult who is unable to care for or protect themselves or whose ability to perform certain activities of daily living, is impaired due to a disability or the infirmities of aging.  Incapacity is not a requirement for the majority of the sections of the law.

The process involves filing a petition in circuit court; the injunction is issued without giving the alleged exploiter any warning.  A hearing is held after 15 days. Then the judge decides whether to continue the injunction, to order the alleged exploiter to perform certain actions or to order other necessary relief to protect the vulnerable adult.  

The team hopes to continue to educate our community to help protect our vulnerable adults.  

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