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Key Takeaways
Yes. In California, a caregiver can be charged with neglect, and the most serious cases are prosecuted as crimes.
If you suspect that someone trusted with a parent's care has failed them, you are likely holding two questions at once. You want to know whether the law will hold that person accountable and what you can do to protect your loved one now. At The Elder Justice Firm, we help Orange County families answer both.
California law treats neglect as a potential crime, not merely a private failing. Under Penal Code section 368, a person who has the care or custody of an elder and willfully causes or permits that elder's health to be endangered may be prosecuted. The law reaches reckless conduct, not only deliberate conduct.
Prosecutors can treat a violation of section 368 as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the harm involved. A felony conviction can carry a sentence of two, three, or four years in state prison, along with fines up to $6,000. When neglect causes great bodily injury or death, the potential sentence grows longer still.
Criminal charges are only one side of accountability, though. A district attorney decides whether to prosecute, and that choice rests with the state rather than with your family. Knowing what the law expects of a caregiver helps you recognize when that line has been crossed.
Neglect carries a specific legal meaning, and it is broader than outright cruelty. Under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.57, it is the failure of someone responsible for an elder to provide the care a reasonable person would. That failure can be active or passive, and it does not require any intent to harm.
State law recognizes several forms this neglect can take, including the following:
These categories often overlap in real life, and a single situation can involve more than one. A resident left in soiled bedding for hours, for instance, may be experiencing both a hygiene failure and a safety hazard.
Neglect is also different from an honest mistake or a single hard day. The law looks for a pattern of unmet basic needs or a lapse serious enough that a careful caregiver would have prevented it. A one-time scheduling error is not the same as leaving a bedridden resident without food or clean bedding for days.
The duty to provide reasonable care reaches more people than many families expect. Anyone who accepts the care or custody of an elder can be held to that standard, from paid aides and private nurses to the staff of nursing homes and assisted living communities. Facilities themselves can also be responsible when understaffing or poor training leads to harm.
Family members are not automatically exempt. A relative who takes on responsibility for an aging parent's daily needs can, in some situations, carry the same legal duty as a hired professional. The deciding question is whether the person assumed responsibility for that care, not whether money ever changed hands.
Consider a common situation. An agency sends a home health aide to check on an elderly woman twice a day, yet the aide skips visits, leaving her without meals or medication. Both the aide and the agency that placed them may share responsibility for the harm that follows.
Families are often surprised to learn that a criminal case and a civil case follow two separate paths. The state brings a criminal charge to hold an offender accountable, and even a conviction does not place compensation in your family's hands. A civil claim, by contrast, is something your family brings directly to recover for the harm done.
The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act gives these civil cases real force. When neglect is proven to be reckless or malicious by clear and convincing evidence, a higher standard than most civil cases require, the law allows recovery of attorney's fees and costs. It can also lift limits that would otherwise restrict certain damages after a loved one has passed away.
A civil claim can also reflect the full weight of what happened. Families may recover for medical expenses, for a loved one's pain and suffering, and, in the hardest cases, for the loss of their final years. Money cannot undo the harm, yet accountability can bring answers and help spare another family the same failure.
This is the work our firm focuses on every day. We cannot file criminal charges, but we can hold a negligent caregiver or facility financially accountable and help your family find a measure of justice.
Because neglect often develops quietly, families are usually the first to sense that something is wrong. The physical signs are often the clearest, and they include unexplained weight loss, dehydration, pressure sores, repeated falls, or injuries no one can explain. Poor hygiene, soiled clothing, and a room that has grown unsanitary are warnings as well.
The changes are not always physical. A loved one who becomes withdrawn, fearful, or suddenly different in mood may be telling you something they cannot say aloud. Medication mix-ups, missed appointments, and a caregiver who resists questions or discourages visits all deserve a closer look.
Trust what you observe. If the explanation you are given does not match what you see, treat that gap as a reason to look deeper rather than a worry to set aside. No one knows your loved one the way you do, and that knowledge is often the earliest warning of all.
If you believe neglect is happening, reporting it can protect your loved one and create an official record. A few steps can help you act quickly and safely:
Certain professionals, known as mandated reporters, are legally required to report suspected abuse under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15630. You do not need to be certain that neglect occurred to make a report, since a reasonable suspicion is enough to ask the authorities to look into it.
Choosing to act can feel daunting, but a few practical steps make a real difference. Write down what you have seen, including dates, photographs, and the names of anyone involved. Request your loved one's medical and care records in writing, and keep copies of everything.
Time matters more than families often realize. Both criminal and civil actions carry deadlines, and important evidence can fade as the weeks pass. Acting sooner protects your options and gives any investigation the best chance of uncovering what truly happened.
You do not have to sort through this alone. Speaking with an attorney who handles elder neglect cases can help you understand your family's rights and decide on the next best step.
Families worried about a loved one's care often ask us the same questions. Here are clear answers to several of the most common.
Yes. If a relative accepts responsibility for an elder's care, the law can hold them to the same standard as a paid caregiver, whether or not they were ever compensated.
It can be either. Prosecutors weigh the seriousness of the harm, and cases involving a real risk of great bodily injury or death are far more likely to be charged as felonies.
Reporting neglect to authorities like Adult Protective Services is about stopping the immediate danger; it triggers an official investigation into the facility. Filing a civil claim is entirely separate; it is a legal action that allows your family to seek financial compensation for the harm and suffering your loved one endured.
Call 911 in an emergency, contact Adult Protective Services at 1-833-401-0832 for someone at home, or reach the Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-800-231-4024 for a facility resident.
Often, yes. The Elder Abuse Act allows families to pursue certain claims after a death, and in some cases to recover damages that would otherwise be limited.
Deadlines apply to both criminal and civil matters, and they can be shorter than you expect. Speaking with an attorney promptly helps protect your family's options.
A pressure sore that never healed or a fall no one explained can be the first sign that a caregiver failed in a duty the law takes seriously. If that fear is what brought you here, you already sense how much is at stake for someone you love. You do not have to carry that worry, or the search for answers, on your own.
Our team brings decades of experience and more than $200 million in verdicts and settlements to cases like these. Our founding attorneys investigate thoroughly, treat every family with compassion and respect, and pursue full accountability from negligent caregivers and facilities. We work on a contingency basis, which means you owe nothing unless we recover for you.
If you suspect caregiver neglect in Orange County, we would be honored to help you find answers. Call The Elder Justice Firm at (855) 880-4500 or reach us through our contact page for a free, confidential case evaluation.
Rob Marcereau founded The Elder Justice Firm on a single conviction: Seniors deserve a lawyer who prepares every case for trial.
He is an award-winning trial attorney, licensed in California since 2000, who has built his practice around institutions that harm the people in their care. Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and their insurers arrive with defense counsel already retained and a strategy already in motion. Families arrive with grief, a stack of medical records they cannot read, and a facility that has stopped returning calls.
Closing that gap is the reason this firm exists. To speak with a California elder abuse attorney about what happened to someone you love, call The Elder Justice Firm at 855-880-4500.
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