It often starts quietly. A new caregiver starts handling the mail. A relative with a power of attorney stops answering questions about the bank accounts. Then, after a parent dies, the family learns the house was deeded away, the savings are gone, or the trust was rewritten in someone else’s favor. If you believe someone took advantage of an aging parent or loved one, a California financial elder abuse attorney can help you find out what happened and recover what was taken. David Yoshida represents families, heirs and beneficiaries throughout California in financial elder abuse cases, many of which overlap with trust and estate disputes.
These cases are painful because the person responsible is often someone the family trusted. David listens first, looks at the records and the timeline, and gives you an honest read on your options before you decide anything.
Under California’s Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, financial abuse happens when a person or business takes, hides, appropriates, obtains or keeps an elder’s property for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, helps someone else do it, or does it through undue influence (Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.30). Conduct counts as wrongful if the person knew or should have known it was likely to harm the elder.
The law protects:
Property is considered “taken” whenever the elder loses a right to it, whether through a contract, a gift during their lifetime, or a change to their will or trust. Your loved one doesn’t have to have dementia for financial abuse to occur.
Many financial elder abuse cases surface only after a parent dies, when the family reads the trust or learns the accounts are empty. That’s why they so often become trust litigation. A trustee who used trust money for themselves, an amendment signed under pressure, or a gift to a caregiver can all be challenged in the same case. California also presumes certain gifts to a caregiver of a dependent adult, or to the person who drafted the document, were the result of fraud or undue influence (Probate Code section 21380). If the abuse involved a rewritten trust or will, see David’s contested trusts and estates page.
Depending on the facts, David can use several legal tools, often in the same case:
Early action matters. Money moves quickly, and a court can freeze or recover assets more easily before they’re spent or transferred again.
California’s elder abuse law is written to make these cases worth bringing:
If you aren’t sure whether you have standing, that’s one of the first things David will review.
A civil claim for financial elder abuse generally must be filed within four years after the abuse is discovered, or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence (Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657.7). Other deadlines can be much shorter. If the abuse involved a trust, a contest generally must be filed within 120 days of the trustee’s formal notice (Probate Code section 16061.8). Don’t wait to get advice.
Not every accusation is true. Adult children who helped a parent with bills, caregivers who were paid fairly, and trustees who followed the trust are sometimes accused of abuse by relatives who don’t understand what happened. David also represents trustees and family members facing these claims, building a defense from the bank records, the trust terms and the decisions they actually faced.
David Yoshida’s office is in Calabasas, at 4500 Park Granada, Suite 202, and he represents families across the state, in person or by video. Financial elder abuse and trust cases are usually filed in the county where the elder lived or where the trust is administered, including Los Angeles County, Ventura County and counties throughout California. See the areas David serves.
Learning that someone took advantage of a person you love is devastating, and it can leave you angry, guilty and unsure where to start. You don’t have to sort it out alone. When you reach out, David will listen to what happened, look at the records and the dates, and tell you honestly what can be done.
Money and property can disappear quickly, and some deadlines are short. The sooner you talk with David, the more you can protect and recover. Call (323) 977-7001 or contact David today.
Taking, hiding or keeping the property of someone 65 or older, or of a dependent adult, for a wrongful use, with intent to defraud, or through undue influence. It includes misusing a power of attorney, pressuring an elder into changing a trust, and transferring a home without fair value.
Yes. After an elder’s death, the personal representative of the estate or the successors who inherit the claim can generally bring it. Many cases are discovered only after death, when the family sees the accounts and the trust.
Generally four years from when the abuse was discovered, or should have been discovered. If a trust is involved, much shorter deadlines may apply, such as 120 days to contest a trust after the trustee’s notice.
Yes. If financial abuse is proven, California law requires the court to award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the plaintiff.
They overlap. Using undue influence to take an elder’s property is one form of financial abuse under California law. Courts look at the elder’s vulnerability, the influencer’s position of trust, the tactics used and whether the result was fair.
An agent under a power of attorney must act in the elder’s best interest. If they’re taking money for themselves, they can be ordered to account for and repay what they took, and the court can stop further misuse.
If your loved one is in danger or the abuse is ongoing, yes. A report can trigger an investigation and protection. A civil case is separate, and it’s how families recover the money and property that was taken.
Often, yes. A trust or amendment made through undue influence can be set aside, and gifts to certain caregivers are presumed invalid unless the caregiver proves otherwise.
