Elder Abuse

We represent elders, dependent adults, family members, and professional fiduciaries. Our clients recover wrongfully-taken assets and deter ongoing abuses, particularly those made under false pretenses under the guises of "assistance" to isolate the victim or alienate his or her entourage.

We also staunchly defend those who engage in lawful conduct, yet, against whom false allegations are lodged by the mal-intended or misinformed who seek to exploit an elder's diminished capacities to reap a financial gain.

Nationally, between one to two million Americans who are 65 or older have been injured, exploited or mistreated by someone they once trusted. Unscrupulous people prey on elders by scaring them with inaccurate information to get access to and ultimately take hard-earned assets.

Your attention is the best way to care for the ones you love, and, protect the frail from abuse by those who seek to violate their trust.

A few facts about this issue follow.

90% of abusers are family members or trusted others
Only 1 in 44 cases of financial abuse gets reported to law enforcement; most cases have to be filed by individuals in civil courts
Victims are more vulnerable to abuse if they suffer from (often never-diagnosed) cognitive impairment, or, rely on others to met their needs

Below are a few mechanisms to execute common scams.

Manipulating an elder to trust one person to the exclusion of others to isolate him or her from loved ones
Threatening to abandon or otherwise harm the victim unless he or she gives the perpetrator what he/she wants
Using a Power of Attorney or joint accounts as a license to steal the victim's monies for the perpetrator's own use
Refusing to foster relationships or procure services for the victim, allowing the abuser to retain control over and access to all info and assets
Pretending to be all-knowing about a matter that is meaningful to the victim to dupe and confuse the formerly-capable, high-functioning elder