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 Full and Partial Surrenders or Cancellations of Athene Annuity and Life Company Annuities Athene Annuity and Life Company, formerly Aviva Annuity and Life Company,[1] issues fixed indexed annuities in California.  These contracts, like all deferred annuities, include penalties for early withdrawals, known as surrenders.  Surrenders may be full […]

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 Preventing Financial Exploitation of Seniors Tips on What to Watch For Even though awareness of financial elder abuse is increasing, cases involving elder investment fraud and financial abuse are very much on the rise. Adult Protective Services in San Francisco reports that financial elder abuse has increased dramatically […]

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 Nursing Home Residents at Risk of Abuse and Neglect Statistics reflecting incidents of abuse of elderly persons in nursing homes and other care facilities are staggering and sad. At the broadest level, more than 2 million cases of elder abuse are reported every year in this country, and […]

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 […]