KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to New Jersey

S1525 • 2026

Creates offense of financial exploitation of the elderly.

Creates offense of financial exploitation of the elderly.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Amato, Carmen F., Jr.
Last action
2026-06-11
Official status
Reported from Senate Committee, 2nd Reading
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Creates offense of financial exploitation of the elderly.

Creates offense of financial exploitation of the elderly.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates offense of financial exploitation of the elderly.
  • Topic: 2nd Reading in the Senate Fiscal note: This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-06-11 New Jersey Legislature

    Reported from Senate Committee, 2nd Reading

  2. 2026-01-13 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

Official Summary Text

Creates offense of financial exploitation of the elderly.
Topic:
2nd Reading in the Senate
Fiscal note:
This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
S1525 SJU Statement 6/11/26

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No.
1525

STATE
OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:
�JUNE
11, 2026

����� The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably
Senate Bill No. 1525.

����� This bill creates the offense
of financial exploitation of the elderly. Under the bill, a person obtains
property by financial exploitation of the elderly when, being a person in a
position of trust, the person compels or induces an elderly person to deliver
such property to the person or to a third person by means of fraud, false
promise, extortion or intimidation.

����� An �elderly� person is
defined as �any person who is 60 years of age or older and is suffering from a
disease or infirmity associated with advanced age or who suffers from a mental
disease, defect or condition which renders the person incapable of deciding
whether to give or withhold consent to taking, obtaining or withholding of his property.��
A �person in a position of trust� means a person who:

����� (a) is the parent, spouse,
adult child or other relative by blood or affinity of an elderly person; (b) is
a joint tenant or tenant in common with an elderly person; (c) has a fiduciary
obligation to an elderly person; (d) receives monetary or other valuable
consideration for providing care for the elderly person; (e) lives with or
provides some component of home care services on a continuing basis to the
elderly person including, but not limited to, a neighbor or friend who does not
provide such services on a compensated basis but has access to the elderly
person based on such relationship.

����� The offense would be graded
as a crime of the third degree punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to
five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both, when the amount involved is at
least $200 but does not exceed $500. Currently, a theft of this amount is
graded as a crime of the fourth degree, punishable by a term of imprisonment of
up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. When the act involving an
elderly person resulted in the theft of an amount that is less than $200, it
would be graded as a crime of the fourth degree subject to the aforementioned
level of punishment for this degree of crime. A theft of this smaller amount is
currently graded as a disorderly persons offense, punishable by a term of
imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

����� The theft of more than $500
but less than $75,000 from any victim, including an elderly person, would
continue to be a crime of the third degree, and the theft of more than $75,000
from any victim would continue to be a crime of the second degree.

����� This bill was prefiled for introduction in the
2026-2027 session pending technical review.� As reported, the bill includes the
changes required by technical review, which has been performed.