ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Financial Elder Abuse Strikes Seniors Anywhere
Care Facility Residents Vulnerable To Exploitation
Preventing Abuse
The risks of financial elder abuse by in-home caregivers is high. But seniors who live in assisted care facilities or nursing homes are vulnerable to financial elder abuse too. Staff members at these facilities develop close relationships with residents that are generally very positive. However, such relationships can result in exploitation as when a staff member may share a financial tale of woe with a resident or connect a scam artist with a resident. Staff also may have broad access to the units of residents such that theft of cash and other valuables can be a risk.
The Alameda County and California elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent seniors and their loved ones victimized by any form of theft or financial elder abuse. If you or someone you know is a victim of financial elder abuse in Marin County or elsewhere in California, call us today at 415-441-8669, and we can help. While nursing homes and assisted living facilities may claim to protect their residents from financial elder abuse, family members should not be lulled into a false sense of security. Financial elder abuse can strike seniors anywhere.
Steps to Protect Yourself or a Senior Loved One From Abuse and Fraud:
- Never ever grant a Power of Attorney to any facility staff member or caregiver.
- Do not allow caregivers or staff to see a trust, Will or other important paper.
- Never designate a caregiver as an authorized signer on any bank account.
- Keep Social Security numbers and account numbers in a secure place.
- Always run a background check and contact references for any in-home caregiver before hiring them and check any facility for a history of complaints or citations.
- Frequently review the senior’s bank statements, records and mail.
- Speak to the senior alone, without any(!) facility staff or caregiver present, to find out any problems they may be having.
Report any suspicions to the police but also call elder abuse counsel to pursue all civil remedies available to senior victims under California elder abuse law. Our lawyers handle elder abuse cases of all varieties and know the remedies, extra damages, and awards of attorneys’ fees and costs to which you or your victimized loved one is entitled.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one been the victim of elder abuse in Alameda County or elsewhere in California, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other Evans Law Firm elder abuse attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. We can help guide your case through investigation, discovery, through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
