ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Financial Exploitation of Seniors Can Be Devastating
What to Look For
Where to Find Help
Seniors here in Marin County and throughout California are vulnerable to financial elder abuse, a real danger for seniors across the board. The effects of financial elder abuse can be devastating, particularly for seniors on a fixed or limited income. It’s not just a danger for wealthy seniors. The Marin financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm represent victims of financial elder abuse and their loved ones here in Marin and throughout California whether the financial elder abuse comes at the hands of strangers, caregivers, stock brokers, trustees, agents under a Power of Attorney, conservators, financial advisors or retirement planners, insurance agents selling inappropriate products like annuities or life insurance and others. If you or a loved one has been the victim of financial elder abuse in Marin County or elsewhere in California, call our financial elder abuse lawyers today at (415)441-8669.
Early detection of financial elder abuse is your best defense. Signs of financial elder abuse may include:
- 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.
The onset of financial exploitation is often undetectable, starting out slowly and gradually increasing over time as the senior’s cognitive abilities deteriorate. A caregiver may gradually start taking money or spending a senior’s money for themselves. An insurance agent may approach a senior with a small burial policy and then suggest expensive annuities or life insurance. A stock broker may make one or two unauthorized trades and gradually begin to churn stocks in a senior’s account, buying and selling the same or similar stocks again and again. Keep an eye on a loved one’s financial transactions and any caregiver assigned to the home. 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 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 someone you love is the victim of financial elder abuse by a caregiver, trustee, stock broker, insurance agent, financial advisor or other party here in Marin or elsewhere in California, call Ingrid M. Evans and the other financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with securities, annuity, and other investment fraud, financial elder abuse cases and complex qui tam or whistleblower cases including offshore tax avoidance cases, complex financial contract cases and cases against large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
