Misuse of a Financial Power of Attorney Is Elder Abuse

A financial power of attorney is one of the most useful documents in elder care — and one of the most abused. It hands an agent legal authority over a senior’s money, and when that agent is dishonest, the document that was supposed to protect your loved one becomes the instrument of the theft.

What POA Abuse Looks Like

• Using the principal’s funds for the agent’s own expenses, “loans,” or investments
• Transferring property or changing beneficiary designations for the agent’s benefit
• Making gifts to the agent or the agent’s family without authority
• Obtaining a POA from a senior who lacked capacity, or through pressure and isolation
• Continuing to act under a POA after it was revoked

A POA Is Not a License to Take

An agent under a power of attorney is a fiduciary. California’s Power of Attorney Law requires the agent to act solely in the principal’s interest, keep the principal’s property separate, and account for what they do. Self-dealing is presumptively improper. And when an agent takes an elder’s property for wrongful use or through undue influence, that is financial elder abuse under Welfare & Institutions Code § 15610.30 — the same statute that reaches caregiver theft and predatory scams. Egregious cases can also be prosecuted criminally under Penal Code § 368.

The Remedies Are Broader Than Families Expect

A civil elder financial abuse claim can unwind wrongful transfers, recover the property, and — on a showing of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice — add attorney’s fees, costs, and punitive damages. Probate Code remedies can double damages for property taken in bad faith from an elder or a decedent’s estate. Family members with standing can act even after the elder’s death, and abuse discovered during a trust or estate administration is still actionable.

Move Quickly and Get the Documents

Gather the power of attorney itself, bank and brokerage statements from before and after the agent took over, deeds, and any estate documents signed during the agent’s tenure. Then have counsel evaluate the paper trail. Our California elder financial abuse attorneys handle POA abuse cases throughout the state, tracing transfers and pursuing every avenue of recovery — including claims against institutions that assisted the abuse.

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.