In other material on our website, we’ve explained Arizona’s vulnerable adult statutes, what is financial exploitation. I’m here to talk to you today about what are the remedies, in other words what can the court do if someone is found liable for financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Hi, I’m Kent Berk. I’m an attorney at the Scottsdale, Arizona law firm of Berk Law Group, P.C., where we handle elder law, including financial exploitation, probate, estate, trust, and other types of disputes in Arizona.
So just to refresh, financial exploitation under Arizona Vulnerable Adult Statues is where a person in trust and confidence to a vulnerable adult, uses the vulnerable adult’s assets other than just for the vulnerable adult’s benefit. If those elements are satisfied and there’s no specific authority for the person in trust and confidence to use the vulnerable adult’s assets, then they may be held liable for financial exploitation. If someone’s held liable for financial exploitation, the court has many remedies. Arizona statues is very powerful.
One of the remedies is that the exploiter can be required to pay damages or to disgorge whatever benefits that they’ve wrongfully received from the vulnerable adult. The exploiter can also be made to pay double damages twice the amount of the actual damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and the exploiter can also be required to be disinherited or to give up any benefits that he or she might have otherwise been entitled to receive from the vulnerable adult’s estate or trust.
If you have any questions about a vulnerable adult or financial exploitation case or a probate, trust, or estate matter in Arizona, just send us an email or give us a call. Thanks!