(December 2011) – Unfortunately, financial abuse against vulnerable adults is more common than we would like to imagine. This problem was recognized in 1988 when the legislature determined that elder abuse in Arizona was a serious problem justifying legislative intervention and enacted the Adult Protective Services Act (APSA). In a case directly on point with this problem, the Gorman Law Group, PLC probate litigation team recently secured a significant victory for a client when the Maricopa County Superior Court awarded judgment in the client’s favor in a case alleging financial exploitation of vulnerable adults (ARS §46-456) against certain named beneficiaries of the vulnerable adults’ estate. Essentially, the vulnerable adults had two children to whom they left their entire estate. Shockingly; when the vulnerable adults died, client discovered that the estate was indigent since his sibling caused the vulnerable adults to sign convey everything to her leaving Client with a significantly diminished inheritance. In its ruling, the Court held that ARS §46-456(B) provided the client with civil damages of up to two times the amount of monetary damages and these damages are owed to the client as a beneficiary of the vulnerable adults estate.
Planning For The ‘What-Ifs’