ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
California Civil and Criminal Laws Protect The Elderly
Perpetrators May Be Subject To Civil And Criminal Liability
California has statutes making elder abuse subject to criminal and civil liability. Essentially, the statutes forbid not only the lack of care but also the financial, physical or mental abuse of elderly persons by all types of abusers. The San Francisco and California elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent victims of physical and financial elder abuse and other abusive conduct at the hands of anyone, including strangers, neighbors, caregivers, trustees, conservators, financial advisors, agents acting under Powers of Attorney, or insurance agents or retirement planners selling inappropriate products like annuities or life insurance. If you or a loved one has been the victim of elder abuse in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call our elder abuse lawyers today at (415)441-8669.
The California Elder Abuse Act defines “abuse” broadly, including not only physical and financial elder abuse, neglect, abandonment, isolation or abduction of a senior, but also “other treatment” if that treatment results in “physical harm or pain or mental suffering” to the senior. Calif. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.07(a)(1). Financial elder abuse is also broadly defined as any “taking” of a senior’s property for a wrongful use (i.e., the benefit of the abuser).[1] Calif. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.30(a)(1). Anyone who “assists” in a wrongful taking also commits financial elder abuse. Calif. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.30(a)(2). In certain cases, remedies include the award of attorneys’ fees and costs to the victim for bringing their action. Calif. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15657 and 15756.5.
Where it helps protect an elder from ongoing abusive treatment, he or she can request a restraining order against the alleged abuser. A senior who has suffered abuse may petition the superior court for an order “enjoining a party from abusing, intimidating, molesting, attacking, striking, stalking, threatening, sexually assaulting, battering, harassing, telephoning… destroying personal property … contacting, either directly or indirectly, by mail or otherwise, of coming within a specified distance of, or disturbing the peace of” the senior. Calif. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.03(a)(1) and (b)(4)(A). Our elder abuse attorneys can assist you in requesting a restraining order where that protection is needed.
Contact Us
If you or someone you love is the victim of any type of elder abuse including physical elder abuse, or other abusive treatment or financial elder abuse by a caregiver, trustee, insurance agent, broker, financial advisor or other party, call Ingrid M. Evans and the other San Francisco and California 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.
[1] Ingrid M. Evans of our firm frequently writes about financial elder abuse, including an article on financial elder abuse litigation appearing in this month’s Forum magazine, published by Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), a professional organization that represents the interests of 39 million Californians.
