Theft From an Elder is Financial Elder Abuse

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER

California has some of the toughest laws in the United States when it comes to protecting senior citizens from financial elder abuse.  According to Sacramento financial elder abuse attorneys, financial elder abuse is becoming common. Financial elder abuse is theft.  Often, the theft comes from within the family of the senior citizen.

One attorney working for elder care rights was a supervisor at a beauty salon prior to going to law school.  She stated that she overheard many conversations at the beauty salon regarding elderly clients and how they had loaned money to friends, caregivers, and family members who never paid them back.

One recent initiative to protect senior citizens in California requires banks and other financial institutions to report suspicion of financial elder abuse.  This initiative makes it possible for financial professionals who notice funds being withdrawn from an elder’s account to report the situation.  Sacramento financial elder abuse attorneys say that this initiative is a step in the right direction to help protect senior citizens from financial elder abuse.

A factor that contributes to the epidemic of financial elder abuse is that the state of modern medicine is allowing people to live much longer than they used to.  Many senior citizens are in better shape, physically than they used to be.  However, their mental capacity may not keep up with their physical health.

It is not just family and friends that are taking money from the elderly, financial planners and others who sell financial products have also benefited at the expense of senior citizens.  Unscrupulous financial planners earn high commissions by selling financial products that are not appropriate for senior citizens.  Selling deferred annuities to a person in their 70’s, with high surrender penalties, is an example of inappropriate sales of financial products to senior citizens.

There are more than 50 million senior citizens in the United States.  The senior population makes up 20 percent of the total population in this country and the numbers are only going to grow as more and more baby boomers reach senior status.  Sacramento financial elder abuse attorneys say that the population in general needs to be better educated regarding financial elder abuse in order to prevent the problem from getting much worse.

Evans Law Firm, Inc. handles elder abuse, financial elder abuse, physical elder abuse, annuity fraud, consumer fraud class actions, insurance and banking fraud cases.  If you think that you have witnessed or are the victim of elder abuse, or financial fraud by a life insurance company, bank or individual then, contact Evans Law Firm, Inc. at 415-441-8669 for a free and confidential consultation, or email us at [email protected]