ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 570, RSMo, relating to stealing and related offenses by adding thereto one new section relating to financial exploitation of the elderly or disabled, with penalty provisions.
Section A. Chapter 570, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 570.145, to read as follows:
570.145. 1. A person is guilty of the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person if such person stands in a position of trust and confidence with the elderly or disabled person, and such person knowingly and by deception or intimidation obtains control over the elderly or disabled person's property with the intent to permanently deprive the elderly or disabled person of the use, benefit or possession of his or her property thereby benefiting such person or detrimentally affecting the elderly or disabled person. Financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person is a class A misdemeanor if the value of the property is less than two hundred fifty dollars and a class C felony if the value of the property is two hundred fifty dollars or more.
2. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
(1) "Deception", a misrepresentation or concealment of material fact relating to the terms of a contract or agreement entered into with the elderly or disabled person or to the existing or preexisting condition of any of the property involved in such contract or agreement, or the use or employment of any misrepresentation, false pretense or false promise in order to induce, encourage or solicit the elderly or disabled person to enter into a contract or agreement. "Deception" includes:
(a) Creating or confirming another person's impression which is false and which the offender does not believe to be true; or
(b) Failure to correct a false impression which the offender previously has created or confirmed; or
(c) Preventing another person from acquiring information pertinent to the disposition of the property involved; or
(d) Selling or otherwise transferring or encumbering property, failing to disclose a lien, adverse claim or other legal impediment to the enjoyment of the property, whether such impediment is or is not valid, or is or is not a matter of official record; or
(e) Promising performance which the offender does not intend to perform or knows will not be performed. Failure to perform standing alone is not sufficient evidence to prove that the offender did not intend to perform;
(2) "Disabled person", a person who suffers from a physical or mental impairment resulting from disease, injury, functional disorder or congenital condition which renders such person incapable of avoiding or preventing the commission of an offense;
(3) "Elderly person", a person sixty years of age or older who is suffering from a disease or infirmity associated with advanced age and manifested by physical, mental or emotional dysfunctioning to the extent that such person is incapable of avoiding or preventing the commission of the offense;
(4) "Intimidation", the communication to an elderly or disabled person that he or she will be deprived of food and nutrition, shelter, prescribed medication, or medical care and treatment.
3. For purposes of this section, a person stands in a position of trust and confidence with an elderly or disabled person when such person:
(1) Is a parent, spouse, adult child or other relative by blood or marriage of the elderly of disabled person;
(2) Is a joint tenant or tenant in common with the elderly or disabled person with knowledge of such relationship;
(3) Has a legal or fiduciary relationship with the elderly or disabled person; or
(4) Has a relationship with the elderly or disabled person as a health care or personal care worker.
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the remedies available to the victim pursuant to any state law relating to domestic violence.
5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose criminal liability on a person who has made a good faith effort to assist the elderly or disabled person in the management of his or her property, but through no fault of his or her own has been unable to provide such assistance.
6. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability to engage in bona fide estate planning, to transfer property and to otherwise seek to reduce estate and inheritance taxes; provided that such actions do not adversely impact the standard of living to which the elderly or disabled person has become accustomed at the time of such actions.
7. It shall not be a defense to financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person that the accused reasonably
believed that the victim was not an elderly or disabled person.
Missouri House of Representatives