Financial Elder Abuse Legal News Articles & Interviews

Beverly Hills, CA A 2015 report produced by True Link Financial estimates that the amount lost by senior citizens through financial elder abuse in the US is at a staggering $36.48 billion annually. That number surges well past a previous MetLife Institute report in 2011 that estimated the amount to be $2.9 billion.

Our nation’s elderly continue to be potential targets for financial predators and others seeking to take advantage of their trust. LawyersandSettlements.com spoke with attorney Craig Niven regarding the risk to elderly Americans, and how they can protect themselves against financial fraud.Walnut Creek, CA (January 19, 2014): Consumer fraud against the elderly is already a multi-billion dollar problem that’s poised to grow even bigger each year, thanks to the overall aging of what CNN.com notes as the largest single generation of Americans born in US history, the Baby Boomer.* And California-based attorney Craig Niven winces at some of the ways in which various hucksters and even cold-hearted family members take advantage of seniors.

With an aging population, the potential exists for elderly Americans to either put their financial trust in unscrupulous advisors thereby leading to financial elder abuse, or to relinquish management of their assets to family members who then take advantage of the elderly individual’s trust. As an elder financial abuse attorney, Phil Brown has seen it all…Beverly Hills, CA (December 09, 2013): It’s a formula that can be fraught with risk. As Americans age through their retirement years and begin showing signs of physical and cognitive frailty, they often need to rely on family members or trusted advisors to help take care of their financial accounts and obligations. However, financial advisors have been known to take advantage of an elder’s reduced cognitive capacity, directing elderly investors toward financial products that might be ill-suited for them. And family members have been known to take advantage an elderly individual’s trust. Sometimes the trust is misplaced.

Walnut Creek, CADefrauding elderly Americans of their life savings is a multibillion-dollar problem in the United States. Attorney Craig Niven’s law practice partly focuses on trying to recover assets for seniors who have fallen prey to the perpetrators of all kinds of cruel construction and real estate swindles.

Beverly Hills, CA After 45 years practicing law, Phil Brown could go golfing and forget about coming to the office every day. Instead, he says he can’t wait to get to work every morning. His focus for almost a decade now has been financial elder abuse.

Colorado Springs, CO Aware of the growing incidence of elder fraud in the US, psychologists at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs are offering up a type of expert testimony that could aid in the prosecution of perpetrators.

Renton, WA Leonard Swenson was a lonely Washington state widower with a house, a truck, $90,000 in savings and a regular income. A trusting man with a limited education, Swenson became a target of devastating emotional and financial abuse.

Seattle, WA King County prosecutor Page Ulrey calls the growing number of financial abuse cases “outrageous.” There are two prosecuting attorneys in her office who work on financial elder abuse but she says they need more like five prosecutors to handle the work. “We’re swamped,” says Ulrey, who recently spoke at a White House conference on the subject and is fast becoming known for her very effective work bringing perpetrators to trial.

Tallahassee, FL It's one of the most unsavory crimes against a vulnerable segment of society—taking advantage of seniors. To that end, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the state of Florida announced in May the arrest of Neal Seth Smalbach, 49, under suspicion of grand theft in the misrepresentation of details relating to financial products to seniors.

Chicago, IL Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed a bill into law to protect senior citizens from financial elder abuse.