ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Financial Elder Abuse Can Strike Any Senior
Isolated Seniors Are Most At Risk
Everyone of us is potentially a victim of financial fraud. A higher percentage of seniors suffer more incidents of financial abuse or fraud and the highest percentage of victims of financial exploitation is isolated seniors. 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. The California and Marin financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. can represent you if you or a loved one suffers any form of financial elder abuse here in California. If you have, call our lawyers today at (415)441-8669.
Our financial elder abuse litigators will pursue all persons responsible for your economic injury and those who may employ or supervise them. We will also pursue anyone who assists a financial predator in their abuse of a senior since under California law anyone who assists in financial elder abuse is also liable for the injuries sustained by the senior. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.30(a)(2). Our litigators will pursue all remedies available to injured seniors under California law which include rescission (undoing an unsuitable contract), restitution (getting your money back), damages and extra or punitive damages, and awards of attorneys’ fees and costs for bringing your action. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.5.
If you have a senior loved one, stay active in his or life and encourage them to remain connected to their friends, their church, or synagogue, and social groups. Isolated seniors are particularly vulnerable largely because they just don’t have anyone to talk to about the issues or decisions in their life. Look for any signs that your loved on is being financially abuse.
Signs of Financial Elder Abuse:
- Unexpected changes in wills, trusts, or powers of attorney.
- Sale to the senior of an inappropriate annuity or life insurance policy.
- Changes in spending habits and cash withdrawals or different types of spending than the senior normally incurs.
- An unexplained increase in check cashing, transfers of money, ATM withdrawals, or credit card activity.
- Opening of a new bank or brokerage account (or multiple accounts) or changing banks and brokerage firms.
- Unpaid bills.
- Unusual increase in investment activity or change in investment style toward riskier or unregistered investments.
- A senior who is overly reluctant to discuss financial matters perhaps out of fear from retaliation from a caregiver or other abuser.
- Allowing a new “friend” or caregiver to make decisions on the elderly person’s behalf.
- A caregiver or other person screening the elder’s phone calls or going through their mail.
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, to pursue all remedies available to California financial elder abuse victims including restitution (getting your money back), rescission (undoing an invalid contract), punitive damages, and recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in bringing a financial elder abuse action against wrongdoers.
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 Marin 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.
