ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
California Appellate Court Rules Any Individual Can Be An Abuser Of the Elderly
Abusers Need Not Have “Special Relationship” to Their Victims
A recent appellate decision held that a senior can get a restraining order against any individual who engages in abusive conduct, as defined under the Elder Abuse Act, against that senior regardless of the relationship between the alleged abuser and the senior victim. The Court rejected the argument that there needed to be some kind of “special relationship” between the abuser and victim in order to find the defendant committed elder abuse under the meaning of the Elder Abuse Act. 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 whether at the hands of anyone, including strangers, neighbors, caregivers, trustees, conservators, financial advisors, or insurance agents selling inappropriate products like annuities or life insurance for a commission. 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.
Evans Law Firm currently represents the aggrieved senior in this case, an 81-year-old woman. Our litigators are fighting to protect her from continued abusive treatment. We understand the reach of elder abuse protections in California and know the standards of proof and intricacies of the law depending on the type of abuse suffered. We can help with protective orders and file complaints on behalf of abused seniors against the responsible parties, seeking all remedies available under California law for victims. 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.
The 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). 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).
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.
