ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Any Senior Can Be A Victim
Isolated Seniors Are Most At Risk
What To Watch Out For
Statistics show that seniors are vulnerable to financial fraud and isolated seniors are at particular risk. These risks are intensified as we shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caregivers, spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends, insurance agents, financial advisors, trustees, conservators, persons acting pursuant to Powers of Attorney and complete strangers can all be financial predators of isolated seniors. Below, we suggest some important steps you can take to monitor your loved one’s finances and safeguard them from financial elder abuse even during lockdown. If you discover your senior loved one is a victim of financial elder abuse, call the California and Alameda County financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. (415)441-8669, and we can help.
Our litigators will pursue all persons responsible for your economic injury and those who may assist, employ or supervise them and sue for all the relief available to injured seniors under California law including rescission (undoing an unsuitable contract), restitution (getting your money back), economic damages (out of pocket losses) and extra or punitive damages, and awards of attorneys’ fees and costs for bringing your action. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.5.
Indicators of Financial Elder Abuse
During the pandemic it may not be safe you to visit senior loved ones in person. Nevertheless, check in by phone (or, better yet, FaceTime or Zoom if possible) and speak to them alone to find out how they are doing. Every month, review bank, brokerage firm, and credit card statements. Look for telltale indicators of financial exploitation:
• Inappropriate banking activity such as unusually large checks or ATM withdrawals
• Signatures on checks that do not resemble the elder’s
• Legal documents signed when the elder is physically incapable of writing
• Checks written out to “cash”
• Checks signed by the senior but filled out by someone else
• A surge of activity in accounts which have been static for years
• New accounts
• Overdue bills
• Contributions going to newly formed religious or non-profit causes
Never ever give a Power of Attorney to a caregiver. Keep valuables and bank information and checkbooks in a secure place. Respond quickly if you suspect any financial elder abuse. Notify the authorities and seek qualified financial elder abuse lawyers, such as the elder abuse lawyers at Evans Law Firm.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one has been the victim of financial elder abuse by a caregiver, insurance agent, stock broker, investment advisor, financial planner, promoter or other person here in Alameda County or elsewhere in California contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other California financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys also have experience with complex financial contracts and large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through filing a complaint, investigation and discovery through trial or an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
