Elder Abuse-Financial Exploitation and Fraud
Litigating Elder Financial Exploitation Cases: Defending Banks in a Tough Spot — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Legally Qualified: Protecting Against Elder Investment Fraud and Exploitation
How Should We Celebrate Elder Law Month?
Newcomers to probate litigation are frequently surprised by how differently things work in probate court, as opposed to your more straightforward civil courts. (And how do those newcomers know how civil courts work? Law &...more
Every legal dispute confronts the rules of evidence. Can a person’s past, specifically uncharged bad acts, be used as evidence in elder abuse lawsuits? A recent court ruling addressed this very question. The case stands out...more
David F. Johnson participated in a panel presentation entitled “The Baby-Boomer Generation & The Largest Succession of Wealth in History: The New Frontier in Asset Recovery?” for the Offshore Alert Miami Conference on April...more
This blog has devoted a lot of real estate to the use of anti-SLAPP motions in California trust and estate litigation. Though the courts’ treatment of such motions is varied and oftentimes unpredictable, Californians can...more
We “ring” in 2022 with a recent case that again shows the long reach of statutory financial elder abuse claims in California trust and estate litigation. In Ring v. Harmon (2021) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Court of Appeal...more
California trust and estate disputes often feature claims by one sibling that another gained a larger share by unduly influencing a parent. When there are factors suggesting undue influence, who should bear the burden of...more
The thrifty do-it-yourselfers among us might jump at the opportunity to transfer their family home to their kids while avoiding probate and the expense of creating a trust. Revocable Transfer on Death Deeds, or RTODDs, have...more
A recent decision from the California Court of Appeal shows a continued split of authority as to the meaning of California Probate Code section 859, which allows doubles damages for the wrongful taking of property under...more
Most California trust and estate disputes involve adults who can make their own choices about what to seek and how hard to litigate, such as the common scenario of siblings competing for assets. But many disputes, or at...more
Many California financial elder abuse cases we see involve caregivers. While the vast majority are honest, a caregiver who spends many hours alone with a vulnerable client has a unique opportunity to exploit the situation. A...more
American courts (including our California state courts), in contrast to courts in England, do not typically award attorneys’ fees to a lawsuit’s “victor.” There are, of course, exceptions to this so-called “American Rule.”...more
There are several criminal statutes that implicate fiduciary activities in Texas that are not well-known: misappropriation of fiduciary property and financial exploitation of the elderly. Though these may be similar in some...more