Financial Exploitation

Financial Exploitation of an Elder

Wear Trial Law pursues claims against caregivers, family members, professionals, and companies that take, appropriate, or retain an elder’s property through wrongdoing or undue influence. California’s financial elder abuse statute provides for attorney’s fees and costs, which makes these cases viable even where the amount taken is modest. Consultations are free and confidential.

What financial elder abuse looks like

Caregiver theft. Small unexplained withdrawals that grow, missing property, a caregiver added to accounts, or a caregiver named in a new will.

Undue influence. A person who isolates an elder from family, controls information and access, and then directs changes to a will, trust, deed, or beneficiary designation. California defines undue influence by statute, examining the victim’s vulnerability, the influencer’s apparent authority, the tactics used, and whether the result was equitable.

Abuse of a power of attorney. An agent who uses authority for their own benefit rather than the principal’s.

Real property transfers. Deeds signed under pressure, or transfers to a caregiver or relative for no meaningful consideration.

Family member exploitation. The single most common category, and the hardest for families to confront.

Professional and institutional exploitation. Unsuitable annuity or investment sales, and, in some circumstances, financial institutions that ignored obvious red flags.

The remedies are stronger than most people expect

Where financial abuse is established, California law provides for recovery of the property or its value, attorney’s fees and costs, and — where the requisite standard is met — additional damages. That fee-shifting provision is what makes these cases economically viable, and it is why a $60,000 theft from an elderly parent is worth pursuing when an ordinary contract claim of the same size would not be.

Claims may also be brought after the elder’s death by the personal representative or successor in interest.

Proving it

The evidence is usually financial rather than testimonial: bank and brokerage records, transaction patterns and timing, and the correspondence around a change to an estate document.

Medical and cognitive records matter enormously, because capacity at the time of the transaction is frequently the contested issue. So does the isolation pattern — evidence that the influencer restricted visits, screened calls, changed the elder’s phone number, or moved them.

If the elder is still living

Act quickly. Assets can be dissipated, and the influence often continues. Depending on the circumstances, protective steps may include a conservatorship, injunctive relief, freezing accounts, or reporting to Adult Protective Services and law enforcement.

Michael Wear ran the Consumer Protection Department at the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, where investigating financial exploitation was the daily work. That background shapes how these files are built.

Call 415-233-9688 for a confidential consultation.