Restraining Orders

This section defines what is considered abuse against an older adult for the purposes of getting an order of protection. The law considers an older adult to have been abused if they have been a victim of a crime or any of the following abusive behaviors:¹ 

• Abandonment: When the person in charge of the older adult’s care, attention, or assistance leaves them, in an attempt to abandon them. Also, if, as a result of the abandonment, the older adult’s health, physical integrity, sexual integrity, or life is at risk.
• Abuse (mistreatment): Cruel or negligent treatment of an older adult that causes or exposes them to the risk of harm to their health, welfare, or property. It includes physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse, neglect, abandonment, isolation, assault, theft, illegal appropriation, threat, fraud, correspondence violation, age discrimination, civil rights restriction, and exploitation, among others. This abuse can be done by doing or not doing something, and can be carried out by anyone.
• Coercion: Physical or psychological force or violence committed against a person to force them to say or do something or not to say or do something.
• Correspondence violation: Stealing, opening, or taking the older adult’s mail or email without violence or intimidation and without the older adult’s consent.
• Emotional abuse: This includes the following behaviors:
  • a pattern of behavioral or verbal abuse to cause dishonor, discredit, or to belittle personal worth;
  • unreasonable limitation to access and use of shared assets;
  • blackmail;
  • isolation;
  • constant surveillance;
  • withholding, or threatening to withhold food or adequate rest; and
  • ignoring, humiliating, or rejecting the older adult.
• Family violence: Doing something or not doing something that affects the peace and harmony of family life, specifically something that causes or may cause damage or physical, sexual, psychological, economic, and patrimonial suffering.
• Financial exploitation: Inappropriate use of an elderly person’s funds, property, or resources by another person, including fraud, false claims, embezzlement, conspiracy, forgery of documents, falsification of records, coercion, transfer of ownership, or denying the elderly person access to their assets.
• Intimidation: When the older person is compelled to do something against their will because of repeated actions or words that make them feel morally pressured in fear of suffering physical or emotional harm to themselves, their property, or to another person.
• Negligence: Failure to give food, clothing, shelter, or medical care to an older adult.
• Physical abuse: Use of force or violence by any means, which injures the older adult.
• Sexual abuse: Knowingly or recklessly forcing an older adult to take part in or perform sexual acts, including oral sex or vaginal or anal penetration, whether done with a body part or with an object.
• Undue influence: This can happen in various ways:
  • when the older adult, within a power dynamic, allows someone else to act on their behalf, even though it is evident that these actions are harming the older adult;
  • when the older adult acts in a different way than they usually would if they were not influenced by someone else; and
  • when someone makes an older adult perform legal acts they are not okay with, do not understand, or are unaware they are doing.²

¹ 8 L.P.R.A. § 1519
² 8 L.P.R.A. § 1513