Chapter 825 — Exploitation of the Elderly

Florida Statute 825.103

“Exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult; penalties”

What it means

§825.103 is Florida's dedicated financial-exploitation crime. Subsection (1) reaches six routes: taking by a person in a position of trust and confidence or a business relationship; taking from a victim who lacks capacity to consent; a guardian, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney taking an unauthorized benefit; raiding personal, joint, or convenience accounts; failing to spend the person's own assets on their necessities; and fraudulent creation or alteration of a will, trust, or other testamentary document.

Grading is by dollars: under $10,000 is a third-degree felony, $10,000 to under $50,000 second degree, $50,000 or more first degree. And an inter vivos transfer over $10,000 by a person 65 or older to a non-relative known fewer than 2 years, without equivalent value, carries a permissive presumption of exploitation.

— What it says

Six routes to the crime — including breach by an agent under a power of attorney and fraudulent creation or alteration of a will or trust.
Under $10,000: third-degree felony. $10,000–$49,999: second degree. $50,000 or more: first-degree felony.
Transfers over $10,000 by a person 65+ to a non-relative known under 2 years, without equivalent value, are permissively presumed exploitation — with exceptions for regular lenders and bona fide charities.
The relationship is an element: the same taking by a stranger is ordinary theft under chapter 812, not §825.103 exploitation.
Courts can hold pretrial hearings over seized property worth more than $5,000 and return it to the victim as restitution before trial.

— In a real probate

How it plays out

Exploitation usually reaches our probate work after the fact: the estate opens and the accounts are already empty, drained during the last years by whoever held the power of attorney or shared the checking account. The criminal charge belongs to the State Attorney, but §825.103 still matters civilly — §772.11 trebles damages for a violation of it, §415.1111 adds a direct action with fee-shifting, and a conviction forfeits the exploiter's entire inheritance under §732.8031. Speed matters more than sequence; money that has moved twice rarely comes back.

Where this shows up

Pages on this site where § 825.103 does real work:

Related sections

§ 772.11Civil remedy for theft or exploitation § 415.1111Civil actions § 415.1034Mandatory reporting of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults; mandatory reports of death § 732.8031Forfeiture for abuse, neglect, exploitation, or aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person or a disabled adult § 736.1104Person not entitled to receive property or other benefits by reason of victim's death § 415.102Definitions of terms used in ss. 415.101-415.113

Questions people ask

What makes elder exploitation a felony in Florida?

Value sets the degree under Florida Statute 825.103(3): under $10,000 is a third-degree felony, $10,000 to just under $50,000 second degree, $50,000 or more first degree. The victim must be an elderly person or disabled adult as chapter 825 defines those terms.

Is there a presumption of exploitation for gifts from the elderly?

For inter vivos transfers over $10,000 by a person 65 or older to a non-relative known fewer than 2 years, without reasonably equivalent value, §825.103(2) creates a permissive presumption of exploitation — with exceptions for regular lenders and bona fide charitable donations.

The official text

This page is a plain-English summary, verified against the 2026 Florida Statutes — it is not the statute, and it isn't legal advice for your situation.

Read § 825.103

Written by

Rachel Brannan Schadt, Esq.

Florida probate and estate attorney. Florida Bar #127500, admitted 2017. Third-generation Florida attorney and Sarasota native. Florida State University; Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida.

About Rachel Florida Bar profile