Financial elder abuse can take many forms

Unfortunately, as people age they may become incapacitated or lose mental acuity. An altered mental state makes managing their financial affairs either difficult or impossible and that’s when those around them jump in to take advantage of the situation. It could be family members, friends, bank employees, doctors, or trusted advisers who will step over the line and use the elderly person’s weakened condition for their personal financial gain. With an aging population, this type of abuse is becoming more and more common.

Financial exploitation can take many forms, ranging from lottery and sweepstakes scams, home repair scams, telemarketing scams, fraudulent misrepresentations, charity scams and many other similar types of situations that negatively impact seniors and their finances.

Family members may also commit acts of financial abuse by using a power of attorney for person gain, stealing money from joint checking and savings accounts, refusing to provide medical care, and threatening to abandon or neglect a senior if they do not give the family member what they want.

To protect seniors, many people retain the services of a financial elder abuse attorney. An attorney can provide the necessary level of protection and direction to protect a senior citizen from many forms of abuse, including financial, medical, mental and criminal.

Fortunately, the state of California already has several laws on the books specifically designed to protect the elderly from the effects of financial elder abuse. An attorney can prevent actions of undue influence and help to reverse any actions that may have already taken place. It is not uncommon to recover assets and make sure that they are returned to the victim, or that they are passed along to rightful heirs if a senior has passed away.

RMO LLP provides personal and efficient inheritance dispute services to individual and institutional clients. The firm’s attorneys focus on probate litigation involving contested trust, estate, probate, and conservatorship matters. Serving California and Texas, with offices in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Orange County, San Diego, Fresno, the Bay Area, Dallas, and Houston. For more information, please visit https://rmolawyers.com/.

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