ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Internal Revenue Service Rewards Whistleblowers Over $312 Million in IRS Whistleblower Rewards Paid Out in 2018 IRS Targets Offshore Tax Avoidance 2018 was a banner year for the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Whistleblower Program. During the year, the IRS made 217 awards to whistleblowers totaling over $312 million, […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuities Are Inherently Costly and Risky Another Risk: Carriers Sell Annuities Industry reports say sales of annuities are up. That is not good news for consumers. These insurance products are costly, complicated, and risky and tie up your money for years, hostage to penalties if you need to […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Securities and Exchange Commission Pays Out Millions in Whistleblower Awards Fiscal Year 2018 was a record-breaking year for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) whistleblower program, both in amounts recovered and rewards to whistleblowers. In fact, the SEC awarded more dollars in 2018 ($168 million) to whistleblowers […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Social Security Benefits and Income Planning Insurance Agents and Advisors May Mislead You Social Security is a big part of planning for the future. Once eligible, married couples each receive their own benefits when living but when one spouse dies, the double benefits do not continue.  The survivor […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Beware Annuities, Whole Life Insurance and Equity-Indexed Universal Life Insurance Drawbacks and Downsides Unsuitable for Seniors Sales of annuities and whole life insurance and universal life insurance are trending up in 2019. That’s bad news. In uncertain times, insurance agents and financial advisors push annuities and life insurance […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Creating and Amending Trusts Many Californians, especially seniors, create trusts to hold their assets in part to avoid a lengthy probate process following death. The trusts may be fully revocable by the individual creating the trust (known as the “settlor”) or irrevocable during the settlor’s lifetime.  If revocable, […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Caregivers and Financial Elder Abuse Keep Valuables and Important Papers in a Safe Place Whenever a stranger is in an elderly person’s home, the senior’s identity, valuables, credit cards, bank accounts and important papers are all at risk. Unscrupulous caregivers strike quickly and it may be some time […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER False Claims Act Cases and Alternate Remedies Whistleblowers/Relators Can Share in Criminal Forfeitures Under the False Claims Act (FCA), the federal government rewards whistleblowers who present credible, original information of false claims made to government agencies for payments and reimbursements. The cases are known as qui tam cases […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Preventing Financial Exploitation of Seniors Legislature Considers Expanding List of Mandated Reporters of Financial Elder Abuse The California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act mandates reporting of suspected financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult.  Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15630.1.  A recently introduced bill in the California […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Guggenheim Partners/Security Benefit Life Insurance Company Total Value Annuities (TVAs) The life insurance and annuity attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent clients who have suffered losses on all types of life insurance and annuity contracts, including indexed annuities and equity indexed universal life insurance. Indexed annuities are […]