What should I do if I suspect elder financial abuse in California?

Report it and preserve the paper. Anyone may report suspected abuse to Adult Protective Services or local law enforcement under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15630, and bank employees are mandated reporters of financial abuse under section 15630.1. Gather account statements, checks, deeds, and any new estate documents before they disappear.

Move on two tracks at once. First, report: anyone may report suspected abuse of a person 65 or older to Adult Protective Services or local law enforcement, and Welfare and Institutions Code section 15630.1 makes financial institution employees mandated reporters of suspected financial abuse — a bank's own report can corroborate yours. Second, preserve evidence while it exists: bank and brokerage statements, cancelled checks, wire records, deeds and refinance documents, powers of attorney, and any recently changed will, trust, or beneficiary designation, plus notes on who had access to the elder and when isolation began. If the elder still has capacity, help them revoke compromised powers of attorney and alert their banks; if not, a conservatorship or a protective order may be needed to stop the bleeding. Civil remedies under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.30 run four years from discovery, but tracing and recovering money gets harder every month, so early documentation is the case.

Authority: Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15630.1