California's financial elder abuse protections live in the Welfare and Institutions Code, and in some cases they allow recovery of attorney's fees, which is the provision that makes these cases possible to bring at all. An elder means a person 65 or older.
Most of the calls I get on this are not about strangers. They are about a sibling.
What the statutes reach
The law addresses taking, appropriating, or retaining an elder's property for a wrongful use, and it also reaches conduct involving undue influence. That second concept matters more than people expect, because most real cases do not look like theft. They look like a caregiver who became indispensable, then became a signatory, then became a beneficiary.
The attorney's fee provision is the practical difference between this and an ordinary contract claim. Where it applies, a case worth $80,000 can be economically viable. Without it, a lot of elder abuse would go unremedied because the recovery would not cover the fight.
The uncomfortable part
In the majority of the situations that come through my door, the person who moved the money is a family member, usually the child who lived closest and did the most. Sometimes that is theft. Sometimes it is a caregiver who felt entitled to compensation and took it without asking anyone. Those two things need to be told apart before anybody files anything, because getting it wrong destroys a family that could have been repaired.
Warning signs worth taking seriously
- A new name added to accounts, a deed, or a beneficiary designation, particularly after a hospitalization
- A new person controlling access to the elder, screening calls or attending every appointment
- Sudden changes to an estate plan, especially with a new attorney nobody in the family has met
- Unpaid bills where there is plenty of money, or withdrawals the elder cannot explain
- Isolation from old friends, church, or the family members who used to visit
“I will be blunt about this one. The most common single fact pattern I see is a power of attorney used by the agent for the agent's own benefit, with the explanation that Mom would have wanted it. A power of attorney is authority to act for her, not permission to help yourself. That distinction is where the liability sits.”
Delia Vasquez-HartWhat to do first, before a lawyer
Get the records. Bank statements, the deed history from the county recorder, any recent estate planning documents, and the dates of anything that changed. Cases are won on documents and timelines, and the family that starts gathering in week one is in a completely different position than the family that starts in month eight.
Report where reporting is warranted. Adult Protective Services takes reports of suspected elder abuse, and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman handles concerns arising in a facility. Where a crime may have occurred, law enforcement has a role. None of that forecloses a civil claim.
Undue influence and capacity are different questions
A person can have full capacity and still be unduly influenced. A person can lack capacity with nobody influencing them at all. Cases get muddled when families argue Mom did not know what she was doing when what they actually mean is somebody worked on her for two years. The proof looks different for each, so be precise about what you are claiming.
Questions we get asked
My brother has been using my mother's ATM card for two years. Is that elder abuse?
It may be, depending on authorization, what the money went to, and her capacity and knowledge throughout. Start with the statements. Two years of records tells the story better than anyone's recollection.
Can we recover attorney's fees?
California's financial elder abuse statutes provide remedies including attorney's fees in some cases. Whether yours qualifies depends on the facts and the claims pleaded, and I would not promise it at a first meeting.
My father is still alive and does not want to pursue it. Can I?
That is genuinely difficult. A competent adult gets to make decisions others think are unwise. If capacity itself is in question, the analysis changes and a protective proceeding may be on the table.
How old does someone have to be for these protections?
Sixty-five or older is an elder under California law. Separate provisions address dependent adults who are younger.
Start pulling twenty-four months of bank statements and the recorded deed history today, then bring them to a free 45-minute consultation. Documents beat theories, and in these cases they usually settle the question fast.