HB 515 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to protection of specified adults; 2
creating s. 415.10341, F.S.; defining terms; providing 3
legislative findings and intent; authorizing financial 4
institutions, under certain circumstances, to delay a 5
disbursement or transaction from an account of a 6
specified adult; requiring the financial institution 7
to make certain information available upon request by 8
certain entities; specifying that a delay on a 9
disbursement or transaction expires on a certain date; 10
authorizing the financial institution to extend the 11
delay under certain circumstances; authorizing a court 12
of competent jurisdiction to shorten or extend the 13
delay; providing construction; granting fi nancial 14
institutions immunity from certain liability; 15
providing construction; requiring financial 16
institutions to take certain actions before placing a 17
delay on a disbursement or transaction; providing 18
construction; providing an effective date. 19
20
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21
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Section 1. Section 415.10341, Florida Statutes, is created 23
to read: 24
415.10341 Protection of specified adults. — 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(1) As used in this section, the term: 26
(a) "Financial exploitation" means the wr ongful or 27
unauthorized taking, withholding, appropriation, or use of 28
money, assets, or property of a specified adult; or any act or 29
omission by a person, including through the use of a power of 30
attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship of a specified adul t, 31
to: 32
1. Obtain control over the specified adult's money, 33
assets, or property through deception, intimidation, or undue 34
influence to deprive him or her of the ownership, use, benefit, 35
or possession of the money, assets, or property; or 36
2. Divert the specified adult's money, assets, or property 37
to deprive him or her of the ownership, use, benefit, or 38
possession of the money, assets, or property. 39
(b) "Financial institution" means a state financial 40
institution or a federal financial institution as those terms 41
are defined under s. 655.005(1). 42
(c) "Specified adult" means a natural person 65 years of 43
age or older, or a vulnerable adult as defined in s. 415.102. 44
(d) "Trusted contact" means a natural person 18 years of 45
age or older whom the account owner has expressly identified and 46
recorded in a financial institution's books and records as the 47
person who may be contacted about the account. 48
(2) The Legislature finds that many persons in this state, 49
because of age or disability, are at increased risk of f inancial 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
exploitation and loss of their assets, funds, investments, and 51
investment accounts. The Legislature further finds that 52
specified adults in this state are at a statistically higher 53
risk of being targeted for financial exploitation, regardless of 54
diminished capacity or other disability, because of their 55
accumulation of substantial assets and wealth compared to 56
younger age groups. In enacting this section, the Legislature 57
recognizes the freedom of specified adults to manage their 58
assets, make investme nt choices, and spend their funds, and 59
intends that such rights may not be infringed absent a 60
reasonable belief of financial exploitation as provided in this 61
section. The Legislature therefore intends to provide for the 62
prevention of financial exploitation of such persons. The 63
Legislature intends to encourage the constructive involvement of 64
financial institutions that take action based upon the 65
reasonable belief that specified adults who have accounts with 66
such financial institutions have been or are the su bject of 67
financial exploitation, and to provide financial institutions 68
and their employees immunity from liability for taking actions 69
as authorized herein. The Legislature intends to balance the 70
rights of specified adults to direct and control their assets , 71
funds, and investments and to exercise their constitutional 72
rights consistent with due process with the need to provide 73
financial institutions the ability to place narrow, time -limited 74
restrictions on these rights in an effort to decrease specified 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
adults' risk of loss due to abuse, neglect, or financial 76
exploitation. 77
(3) If a financial institution reports suspected financial 78
exploitation of a specified adult pursuant to s. 415.1034, it 79
may delay a disbursement or transaction from an account of a 80
specified adult or an account for which a specified adult is a 81
beneficiary or beneficial owner if all of the following apply: 82
(a) The financial institution immediately initiates an 83
internal review of the facts and circumstances that caused an 84
employee of the financial institution to report suspected 85
financial exploitation. 86
(b) Not later than 3 business days after the date on which 87
the delay was first placed, the financial institution: 88
1. Notifies in writing all parties authorized to transact 89
business on the account and any trusted contact on the account, 90
using the contact information provided for the account, with the 91
exception of any party an employee of the financial institution 92
reasonably believes has engaged in, is engaging in, has 93
attempted to engage in, or will attempt to engage in the 94
suspected financial exploitation of the specified adult. The 95
notice, which may be provided electronically, must provide the 96
reason for the delay. 97
2. Creates and maintains for at least 5 years after the 98
date of the delayed disbursement or transaction a written or 99
electronic record of the delayed disbursement or transaction 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
that includes, at minimum, the following information: 101
a. The date on which the delay was first placed. 102
b. The name and address of th e specified adult. 103
c. The business location of the financial institution. 104
d. The name and title of the employee who reported 105
suspected financial exploitation of the specified adult pursuant 106
to s. 415.1034. 107
e. The facts and circumstances that caused t he employee to 108
report suspected financial exploitation. 109
(4) The financial institution must make the information 110
required in subparagraph (3)(b)2. available for review upon 111
request by the department, any law enforcement agency conducting 112
an investigation under s. 415.104, or any state or federal 113
agency with regulatory authority over the financial institution. 114
(5) A delay on a disbursement or transaction under 115
subsection (3) expires 15 business days after the date on which 116
the delay was first placed. Howe ver, the financial institution 117
may extend the delay for up to 10 additional business days if 118
the financial institution's review of the available facts and 119
circumstances continues to support the reasonable belief that 120
financial exploitation of the specified adult has occurred, is 121
occurring, has been attempted, or will be attempted. The length 122
of the delay may be shortened or extended at any time by a court 123
of competent jurisdiction. This subsection does not prevent a 124
financial institution from terminating a delay after 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
communication with the parties authorized to transact business 126
on the account and any trusted contact on the account. 127
(6) A financial institution that acts in good faith and 128
exercises reasonable care to comply with this section is immune 129
from any administrative or civil liability that might otherwise 130
arise from such delay in a disbursement or transaction in 131
accordance with this section. This subsection does not supersede 132
or diminish any immunity granted elsewhere in this chapter. 133
(7) Before placing a delay on a disbursement or 134
transaction pursuant to this section, a financial institution 135
must do all of the following: 136
(a) Develop training policies or programs reasonably 137
designed to educate employees on issues pertaining to financial 138
exploitation of specified adults. 139
(b) Conduct training for all employees at least annually 140
and maintain a written record of all trainings conducted. 141
(c) Develop, maintain, and enforce written procedures 142
regarding the manner in which suspected financial exploit ation 143
is reviewed internally, including, if applicable, the manner in 144
which suspected financial exploitation is required to be 145
reported to supervisory personnel. 146
(8) Absent a reasonable belief of financial exploitation 147
as provided in this section, this s ection does not otherwise 148
alter a financial institution's obligations to all parties 149
authorized to transact business on an account and any trusted 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
contact named on such account. 151
(9) This section does not create new rights for or impose 152
new obligations on a financial institution under other 153
applicable law. 154
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 155