Caregiver Fraud: When the Person Paid to Help Is Stealing

The person most trusted with an elder’s daily life — a caregiver — is also the person best positioned to steal from them. Caregiver financial fraud is one of the most common forms of elder abuse in California, and one of the most underreported, because the victim often depends on the very person exploiting them.

What Caregiver Financial Fraud Looks Like

• Using the elder’s ATM or debit card for personal purchases
• “Borrowing” money that is never repaid, or soliciting gifts from a confused senior
• Adding themselves to bank accounts, deeds, or beneficiary designations
• Pressuring the elder to sign a power of attorney, new will, or trust amendment
• Isolating the elder from family so the exploitation goes unnoticed

These schemes escalate. What begins with small unexplained withdrawals can end with a transferred house or a drained retirement account — and by the time family members discover it, the elder may no longer have the capacity to explain what happened.

California Law Treats This as Elder Financial Abuse

Under Welfare & Institutions Code § 15610.30, taking or retaining an elder’s property for wrongful use, or by undue influence, is financial elder abuse — a civil cause of action with real teeth. A successful claim can recover the stolen assets, and where the abuser acted with recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice, the court can award attorney’s fees, costs, and punitive damages. Undue influence is defined by statute, and California courts understand how it works on a dependent, isolated senior. Criminal prosecutors can separately charge caregiver theft under Penal Code § 368, but families do not need to wait for a prosecution to pursue civil recovery.

What Families Should Do

Secure the financial records first: bank statements, cancelled checks, credit card bills, deeds, and any powers of attorney or estate documents signed while the caregiver was in the picture. Report suspected abuse to Adult Protective Services. Then talk to a lawyer about civil recovery — our California elder financial abuse attorneys trace transfers, unwind fraudulent transactions, and pursue the people and institutions that enabled the theft. When the exploitation happened inside a care facility, it often accompanies neglect, and our nursing home abuse practice looks at the whole picture.

The Elder Justice Firm concentrates its practice on elder abuse litigation throughout California, with more than $200 million recovered over our careers.

Call 855-880-4500 for a free, confidential consultation.

Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.