Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 33-19.1 - Financial Exploitation of Elders and Dependent Persons Act
Section 33-19.1-2. - Definitions.

§ 33-19.1-2. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Care custodian” means a person who provides health or social services to a dependent adult, except that “care custodian” does not include a person who provided services without remuneration if the person had a personal relationship with the dependent adult: (i) At least ninety (90) days before providing those services; (ii) At least six (6) months before the dependent adult’s death; and (iii) Before the dependent adult was admitted to hospice care, if the dependent adult was admitted to hospice care. As used in this section, “remuneration” does not include the donative transfer at issue under this chapter or the reimbursement of expenses.
(2) “Health and social services” means services provided to a dependent adult because of the person’s dependent condition, including, but not limited to, the administration of medicine, medical testing, wound care, assistance with hygiene, companionship, housekeeping, shopping, cooking, and assistance with finances.
(3) “Dependent adult” means a person who, at the time of executing the instrument at issue under this section, was a person described in either of the following:
(i) The person was sixty-five (65) years of age or older and satisfied one or both of the following criteria:
(A) The person was unable to provide properly for his or her personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter;
(B) Due to one or more deficits in the mental functions listed in § 11-5-12(b)(2), the person had difficulty managing his or her own financial resources or resisting fraud or undue influences.
(ii) The person was eighteen (18) years of age or older and satisfied one or both of the following criteria:
(A) The person was unable to provide properly for his or her personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.
(B) Due to one or more deficits in the mental functions listed in § 11-5-12(b)(2), the person had substantial difficulty managing his or her own financial resources or resisting fraud or undue influences.
(4) “Independent attorney” means an attorney who has no legal, business, financial, professional, or personal relationship with the beneficiary of a donative transfer at issue under this chapter, and who would not be appointed as a fiduciary or receive any pecuniary benefit as a result of the operation of the instrument containing the donative transfer at issue under this chapter.
(5)(i) A person who is “related by blood or affinity” to a specified person means any of the following persons:
(A) A spouse or domestic partner of the specified person;
(B) A relative within a specified degree of kinship described in § 33-19.1-3 or § 33-19.1-4 to the specified person or within a specified degree of kinship described in § 33-19.1-3 or § 33-19.1-4 to the spouse or domestic partner of the specified person; or
(C) The spouse or domestic partner of a person described in subsection 5(i)(B).
(ii) For the purposes of this definition, “spouse or domestic partner” includes a predeceased spouse or predeceased domestic partner.
History of Section.P.L. 2014, ch. 491, § 1.