Criminal Charges for Exploitation of the Elderly in Florida: Why Every Case Is a Felony

Financial exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult is charged in Florida under Section 825.103, Florida Statutes — and it is a felony at every dollar amount. There is no misdemeanor version. Exploitation involving less than $10,000 is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison; at $10,000 the charge becomes a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years; at $50,000 it is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years. Those thresholds are dramatically lower than Florida’s ordinary theft and fraud ladders — and the statute is written broadly enough to reach conduct far beyond what most people picture as “stealing from a senior”: misusing a position of trust, transacting with someone who lacks capacity to consent, breaching a power of attorney, even mishandling a joint bank account.

This is also the rare financial crime in which the accused is very often a family member, a caregiver, or a longtime helper — the person who was closest to the finances. This article explains:

• Who the statute actually protects — and why “elderly person” is a defined term, not just an age
• The six ways § 825.103 defines exploitation
• The penalty tiers, and how they compare to theft and organized fraud
• The $10,000 transfer presumption for victims 65 and older
• How these cases typically begin — mandatory reports, asset-freeze injunctions, and investigations the accused learns about last
• Where the real disputes are fought, and when the case can turn federal

This article provides general legal information and is not a substitute for advice based on the specific facts of a case.

Who the statute protects: “elderly person” is a legal definition, not an age

Section 825.103 protects two defined groups, and the definitions in § 825.101 matter more than most people expect.

An “elderly person” is not simply anyone over a certain age. The statute defines the term as a person 60 years of age or older who is also “suffering from the infirmities of aging as manifested by advanced age or organic brain damage, or other physical, mental, or emotional dysfunctioning” to the point that the person’s ability to provide adequately for their own care or protection is impaired. A healthy, sharp, fully independent 70-year-old who makes a financial decision someone else later regrets is not automatically an “elderly person” under this chapter — and whether the alleged victim actually meets the definition is a genuine, litigable element of the charge.

A “disabled adult” is a person 18 or older with a condition of physical or mental incapacitation due to developmental disability, organic brain damage, or mental illness that substantially restricts the ability to perform normal activities of daily living.

Two more defined terms drive these cases. A “position of trust and confidence” includes relatives, joint tenants on an account, caregivers, people in legal or fiduciary relationships, and anyone who has been “entrusted with or has assumed responsibility for” managing the person’s funds or property — which is why adult children, agents under a power of attorney, and informal helpers are the most common defendants. And a person “lacks capacity to consent” when mental illness, brain disorder, physical illness, memory loss, or a similar impairment leaves them unable to adequately understand or communicate decisions about their property.

The six ways Florida defines exploitation

Section 825.103(1) describes exploitation in six distinct forms. A charge only needs to fit one of them:

Form of exploitation	What the State alleges	Who it typically reaches
Position of trust or business relationship	Knowingly obtaining or using the person’s funds or property with intent to deprive, by someone in a position of trust and confidence or a business relationship	Family members, caregivers, financial advisers, contractors
Lack of capacity to consent	Obtaining or using property of a person the accused knew — or reasonably should have known — lacked capacity to consent	Anyone transacting with a cognitively impaired person
Breach of fiduciary duty	A guardian, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney commits a breach resulting in unauthorized appropriation, sale, or transfer of property, a kickback, or an improper benefit	POA agents, trustees, court-appointed guardians
Bank account misappropriation	Misappropriating money from a personal account, a joint account, or a convenience account to which the elderly person was the sole contributor	Joint account holders, adult children on “convenience” accounts
Failure to provide necessities	Intentionally or negligently failing to use the person’s own income and assets for the necessities required for their support and maintenance	Caregivers and family members controlling the finances
Estate-plan manipulation	Knowingly obtaining property through intentional modification, alteration, or fraudulent creation of a will, trust, or other plan of distribution without proper authority	Anyone involved in late-life changes to wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations

Notice how far this reaches past ordinary theft. Several of these forms do not require sneaking anything at all — a signed check, an authorized-looking transfer, or a documented “gift” can still be charged as exploitation if the State believes the person lacked capacity or the accused abused a position of trust. And the account-misappropriation form means that money moved from a joint account — an account the accused’s own name was on — can support a felony charge if the elderly person was the sole contributor to it.

The penalties: felony tiers that start lower than any other financial crime

Exploitation is graded by the value of the funds, assets, or property involved, with maximum penalties set by § 775.082 and § 775.083. What makes § 825.103 stand out is how early the serious tiers arrive compared to Florida’s other property crimes:

Value involved	Exploitation (§ 825.103)	Grand theft (§ 812.014)	Organized fraud (§ 817.034)
Under $750	3rd-degree felony (up to 5 years)	2nd-degree misdemeanor (petit theft)	3rd-degree felony
$750 – $9,999	3rd-degree felony	3rd-degree felony	3rd-degree felony
$10,000 – $19,999	2nd-degree felony (up to 15 years)	3rd-degree felony	3rd-degree felony
$20,000 – $49,999	2nd-degree felony	2nd-degree felony	2nd-degree felony
$50,000 – $99,999	1st-degree felony (up to 30 years)	2nd-degree felony	1st-degree felony
$100,000+	1st-degree felony	1st-degree felony	1st-degree felony

Two comparisons jump out. A $900 allegation that would be a bare third-degree felony as ordinary theft — and a misdemeanor below $750 — is a felony at any amount when charged as exploitation. And at $10,000, exploitation reaches a second-degree felony a full $10,000 before theft or organized fraud does. We cover those neighboring statutes in Criminal Charges for Embezzlement in Florida and Criminal Charges for Fraud in Florida — prosecutors reviewing a financial file involving an older alleged victim can often choose among all three frameworks, and the choice changes the felony math significantly.

The $10,000 transfer presumption

Section 825.103(2) adds something unusual for a criminal statute: a permissive presumption. When a person 65 or older transfers more than $10,000 to a nonrelative whom they have known for fewer than two years, and receives nothing of reasonably equivalent value in return, the statute allows a presumption that the transfer “was the result of exploitation.”

Note the details. The presumption uses age 65 — not the age-60 “elderly person” definition — and it targets transfers to newer acquaintances outside the family, with exceptions for genuine charitable donations. It is permissive, meaning a jury may draw the inference but is not required to, and it can be rebutted. But it shifts the practical burden in exactly the cases the Legislature was worried about: the new companion, the recently hired helper, the acquaintance who appeared late in someone’s life and started receiving money.

How these cases begin: reports, freezes, and investigations you hear about last

Exploitation cases rarely start with an arrest. They usually start with a report — and Florida law is built to generate them. Under § 415.1034, a long list of professionals are mandatory reporters who “must immediately report” known or suspected exploitation of a vulnerable adult to the state’s central abuse hotline — physicians, nurses, paramedics, nursing home and assisted living staff, law enforcement, and, critically for financial cases, bank, savings and loan, and credit union officers and employees, along with securities dealers and investment advisers. A teller who finds a series of withdrawals suspicious can set the entire process in motion.

From there, several tracks can run at once:

• An adult protective services investigation, which can proceed alongside any criminal case.
• A civil injunction under § 825.1035 — family members, guardians, and agents can petition (with no filing fee) for an injunction against exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and courts can freeze assets and lines of credit, including accounts titled jointly with the accused or solely in the accused’s name. A temporary freeze can issue ex parte — without the accused present — and violating the injunction is itself a prosecutable offense.
• The criminal investigation, which, like most financial cases, is assembled from bank records, account statements, and interviews — often before the accused knows anyone is looking. We described the same pattern in our articles on embezzlement and identity theft: by the time a detective calls, the paper file is usually already built.

The practical consequence: a person can find their accounts frozen, their access to a parent cut off, and an investigator asking for “their side” all before any charge is filed. What is said in that window matters enormously, and it is the wrong window to navigate without counsel.

Where these cases are actually fought

Because § 825.103 reaches conduct that can look identical to ordinary family financial life, the contested questions tend to be different from other theft cases:

• Was the alleged victim an “elderly person” at all? The infirmity component of the definition — not just age — is an element the State must prove, and capacity can change over the very years the transactions span.
• Gift, compensation, or exploitation? Elderly parents do give money to children. Caregivers are paid, sometimes informally, sometimes generously. The line between a lawful gift and a felony frequently comes down to capacity and intent at the time of each transfer — questions that are litigated through medical records, witnesses, and the documents themselves.
• What did the accused actually know? The capacity-based form of the charge requires that the accused knew or reasonably should have known of the impairment. Cognitive decline is gradual and often invisible to non-professionals.
• Whose money was it? Joint accounts, commingled household finances, and years of shared expenses can make the State’s clean “misappropriation” number very messy in reality.
• The valuation itself. The dollar figure selects the felony degree, so the defense has every reason to test how the State counted — what was double-counted, what was legitimate spending on the elderly person’s own needs, and what was assumed.

None of this suggests these cases are easy, and no outcome is ever guaranteed — but it does mean an exploitation charge is built on elements that are genuinely disputable, and the earlier the defense engages with the records, the more of the State’s arithmetic can be tested.

When the case turns federal

When an alleged scheme runs through wires, mail, or financial institutions across state lines — telemarketing, sweepstakes fraud, romance scams targeting seniors — federal prosecutors can charge mail fraud and wire fraud, each carrying up to 20 years, and federal elder-fraud prosecutions have been a stated enforcement priority for years. The dividing lines between state and federal prosecution — and why they matter for bail, sentencing, and strategy — are covered in What Are Federal Criminal Charges?.

The bottom line

Florida treats financial exploitation of the elderly as a felony from the first dollar, defines the crime in six forms broad enough to reach joint accounts, powers of attorney, and late-life estate changes, and backs it with mandatory reporting and asset-freeze tools that put the accused on the defensive before charges exist. The counterweight is that the statute’s elements — the victim’s legal status, capacity, the accused’s knowledge and intent, and the State’s valuation — are exactly where these cases can be contested. If a bank has flagged your transactions, an injunction petition names you, or an investigator wants to talk about a family member’s finances, the time to involve a defense attorney is before you give a statement, not after. MK Law’s partners are trial attorneys who defend financial-crime cases in both Florida and federal courts — contact us or call 954.865.6032, available 24/7.

Frequently asked questions

Is exploitation of the elderly a felony in Florida?

Yes — at every dollar amount. Under § 825.103, exploitation involving less than $10,000 is a third-degree felony, $10,000 to just under $50,000 is a second-degree felony, and $50,000 or more is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Unlike ordinary theft, there is no misdemeanor tier.

Can a family member with power of attorney be charged with exploitation?

Yes. The statute expressly covers breaches of fiduciary duty by agents under a power of attorney, and the “position of trust and confidence” definition includes relatives, joint account holders, and caregivers. A power of attorney authorizes acting in the principal’s interest — it is not a defense to transactions the State contends benefited the agent instead. How a particular transfer was authorized, documented, and used is exactly what these cases dispute.

What if the money was a gift?

Genuine gifts are lawful — but the State can charge exploitation if it contends the person lacked capacity to consent or that the gift was obtained through abuse of a position of trust. For people 65 and older, § 825.103(2) adds a permissive presumption of exploitation for transfers over $10,000 to a nonrelative known fewer than two years. Whether a transfer was a valid gift typically turns on capacity, intent, and documentation at the time it was made.

Who counts as an “elderly person” under the statute?

A person 60 or older who is also suffering from infirmities of aging — advanced age, organic brain damage, or other dysfunction — that impair their ability to provide for their own care or protection. Age alone is not enough, and whether the alleged victim meets the definition is an element the State must prove.

Can exploitation charges be dropped?

Only the State Attorney can drop a criminal charge, and only a judge can dismiss one — the alleged victim, and the family, cannot do it themselves, even if they oppose the prosecution. The recognized paths — declination, diversion, dismissal motions, and negotiated outcomes — are the same ones we walk through in How to Get Criminal Charges Dropped in Florida.

Does paying the money back stop the charges?

Repayment does not erase a completed offense, and an unadvised offer to “make it right” can be treated as evidence against you. Restitution can matter in negotiations and at sentencing, but decisions about repayment in an open investigation should be made through counsel, not directly with the family or the bank.