Florida: Lawmakers Seek To Shield Seniors From Shady Guardians

October 9, 2015 10:02 PM from CBS-Miami Local News TALLAHASSEE (NSF) – A Southwest Florida lawmaker is renewing a push to better protect elderly Floridians from unscrupulous guardians who take control of seniors’ assets. The Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee this week approved a bill (SB 232), filed by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, that would charge the Department of Elder Affairs with certifying and overseeing professional guardians — and disciplining those who abuse their trust. Detert told the committee that professional guardians are a growth business in Florida but are lightly regulated. She cited a series in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, which reported in December 2014 that the number of registered professional guardians statewide had grown 1,800 percent in 11 years. “There are predators,” Detert said. “They have kind of crawled through a crack in the law.” Private professional guardians come into play, for example, in circumstances where families have disputes between seniors’ children. The guardians can earn $100 an hour to open mail, make appointments and pay bills — even to be present when the children came to visit. “When you think of the power you are giving to a guardian,” Detert said. “The power to make your [...]