ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Safely Reunite With Older Loves Ones This Holiday
A Year Of Extreme Difficulty For Seniors
Safely Resume An Active Role In Senior Lives
Happy Fourth of July 2021! This year’s Fourth will certainly be closer to normal than last year’s and we at Evans Law Firm, Inc. urge you to connect safely with the older loved ones, friends, and neighbors, whom you may not have had direct contact with for over a year by now. The pandemic struck seniors the hardest both in mortality rates and also in the collateral fallout resulting from forced isolation. Isolation breeds not only sadness and depression but also greatly increased senior vulnerability to financial elder abuse. We hope you spend this Fourth with senior loved ones as safely as possible and use this holiday to reconnect permanently with them. Millions of older Americans live alone, or by themselves in facilities, and the lockdown cut them off even more. It’s time to spend time physically with them again – and maybe even share a long-awaited hug!
Financial elder abuse will never disappear from our society just as other kinds of financial fraud will never either. But financial elder abuse does not have to be the huge plague that it is if good people would just watch out for older people. By staying involved and watching out for possible financial predators we can protect older ones in our families, our neighborhoods, and communities. If you suspect there’s a problem in a senior’s life, do something about it. Reach out to elder lawyers who may be able help. Evans Law Firm, Inc. represents senior victims of financial or physical abuse or neglect and their families against all persons responsible for the abuse and whether the abuse has occurred at the hands of a caregiver in the senior’s own home, or by an insurance agent or financial advisor taking unfair advantage of a senior to sell them something they do not need or manipulate their money, or from abuse or neglect in a nursing home or assisted care facility. If you or a loved one has been the victim of any form of elder abuse in San Francisco, elsewhere in the Bay Area, or anywhere in the State of California call us today at (415)441-8669 and we can help. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Protecting Seniors From Financial Elder Abuse
Here are some tips on preventing financial elder abuse for you to consider as you resume a more active role in a senior loved one’s life as we emerge from the pandemic:
- Always run a background check and contact references for any in-home caregiver before hiring them.
- Visit and speak with senior loved ones alone. Do not let any caregiver or nursing home aide hover while you talk. If something is wrong, the senior may be too frightened to speak in front of the third person. Also, if you are speaking about financial matters, someone may eavesdrop ad pick up important confidential information.
- Frequently review the senior’s bank statements, records and mail. Consider with the senior whether it would be safer to have bank statements sent to your address so that caregivers do not have access to important mil.
- Keep ATM and credit cards safely out of reach from caregivers and strangers who enter the senior’s home.
- Store silver, jewelry and other valuables safely away.
- Keep important papers like Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney in s safe place and out of eyesight of any caregiver.
- Never ever grant a Power of Attorney to a caregiver or show them a trust, Will or other financial papers.
- Never designate a caregiver as an authorized signer on any bank account.
- Keep Social Security numbers and account numbers in a secure place, off limits to any in-home caregivers.
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. Evans Law Firm, Inc. handles 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 San Francisco or elsewhere in California, contact Ingrid M. Evans at the Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
