Florida offers little oversight over state guardians

Professional guardians have become a booming industry in Florida, but in the business of guardianship we've discovered requirements are few, rewards are many and the rules don't always apply to everyone.

James Vassallo of Deerfield Beach has been an open critic of the state's professional guardianship program.

"They are not for the elderly, they are just about their pocketbooks," he told us recently.

In 2014, a sibling squabble over missing money led him to hire a professional guardian to care for his aging father and protect his dad's money.

"It sounded absolutely perfect," he said. But Vassallo said soon after his father's guardian took control of his dad's money she went out of control spending it, from costly guardian fees to outsourcing help including four lawyers.

"Each one of them is sending bills no less than $15,000. They do separate things she told me."

Professional guardians are court-appointed caretakers who manage the lives of those a judge deems are unable to care for themselves. It's a growing business. Today, Florida has 551 registered professional guardians, up 121 percent from a decade ago.

While there are many guardians who protect a person's assets without cause for concern, the state program that grants strangers so much control and power offers little oversight, making way for other guardians to take advantage of the system and the elderly they're appointed to protect.  (Click to Continue)

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Florida offers little oversight over state guardians