Elder financial abuse is a serious crime that reverberates throughout our communities, and it's a growing problem across the state of California. When an elder's estate or trust is suddenly changed without explanation to produce an unjust outcome, an unscrupulous family member, caretaker, or a bad trustee could be violating your beneficiary rights, with the means of coercion known as undue influence. If you are faced with a wrongdoer exercising undue influence in an estate case, there are certain key elements required to establish your claim.

The Double-Edged Sword: From January 1st, 2014, the definition of undue influence was updated under California's Welfare & Institutions Code Section 15610.70. Now undue influence claims that are used to overturn invalid wills and trusts in probate court can also be filed in your local county superior court as a potential case of elder financial abuse. Civil court trials, decided by a jury, allow you to pursue damages and punish a wrongdoer for elder financial abuse.

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