When a nursing home, caregiver, facility, or even a trusted person causes an elder harm — through neglect, abuse, or financial exploitation — California law gives families the power to hold them accountable. FGC Law represents elders and their families across California. We never represent facilities, insurers, or defendants.
Citations are provided so your family — and we — can verify every point.
The Act protects any person 65 or older, and "dependent adults" aged 18–64 whose physical or mental limitations restrict their ability to carry out normal activities or protect their rights.
Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15610.27, 15610.23"Abuse" includes physical abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, and abduction — or other treatment resulting in physical harm, pain, or mental suffering.
Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15610.07, 15610.57, 15610.63Financial abuse covers taking, secreting, or retaining an elder's money or property for a wrongful use, with intent to defraud, or by undue influence — by caregivers, fiduciaries, predators, or even family.
Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.30On clear and convincing evidence of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice in abuse or neglect, the court awards attorney's fees and costs, and the usual limits on a deceased victim's pre-death pain-and-suffering recovery are lifted.
Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657 · Code Civ. Proc. § 377.34Bedsores, falls, dehydration, malnutrition, untreated infections, and understaffing in skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities that fail the residents in their care.
Assault, battery, unreasonable physical or chemical restraint, and the misuse of sedating medication against an elder (Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.63).
Coerced transfers, forged documents, stolen benefits, abuse of a power of attorney, and predatory schemes that drain an elder's savings or home.
Caregivers or family members who fail to provide the food, hygiene, medical care, or safety a reasonable person would provide (Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.57).
Threats, intimidation, humiliation, and isolation that inflict fear, anguish, or mental suffering on a vulnerable elder.
Deserting an elder who depends on care, or cutting them off from family, visitors, or communication — often to conceal other abuse.
Elders are often unable — or too afraid — to report abuse themselves. Families are the first line of protection.
California law reaches beyond the individual who caused harm to the businesses and decision-makers who enabled it.
Every case is different, and no result is ever promised. Depending on the facts, California law may allow recovery for:
Medical & care costs — treatment for injuries, and the cost of moving your loved one to a safe facility.
Pain & suffering — for the physical pain and mental anguish the elder endured.
Return of stolen assets — recovery of money and property lost to financial abuse.
Attorney's fees & costs — recoverable under the Act in qualifying abuse and neglect cases (§§ 15657, 15657.5).
Punitive damages — where there is clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud.
Wrongful-death recovery — for surviving family when abuse or neglect contributes to an elder's death.
If your loved one is in immediate danger, call 911. Their safety comes before everything else.
Contact Adult Protective Services or the Long-Term Care Ombudsman (for facilities). Reporting creates a record.
Photograph injuries and conditions, save financial records, and write down names, dates, and what you saw.
We'll review what happened at no cost and tell you honestly whether there is a case — and what to do next.
Adult Protective Services (APS): 1-833-401-0832 — routes to your county's APS, 24/7, for elders living in the community.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman (facilities): 1-800-231-4024 — for abuse or neglect in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.
Emergency: Always call 911 if someone is in immediate danger.
The elder or dependent adult can bring a claim. If they cannot act for themselves — or have passed away — certain family members, a conservator, or the personal representative of their estate may be able to bring or continue the case. We'll help you sort out who has standing during your consultation.
We handle elder abuse cases on a contingency-fee basis — there are no upfront attorney's fees, and you owe no attorney's fees unless we recover for you. In qualifying cases, California's Elder Abuse Act also allows attorney's fees and costs to be recovered from the defendant. We'll explain the exact fee arrangement in writing before you sign anything.
It depends on the type of claim. Financial-abuse claims generally must be brought within four years of when the abuse was, or should have been, discovered (Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.7). Physical-injury claims are generally subject to a two-year limit (Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1), and claims involving public entities can be much shorter. Because deadlines turn on the specific facts, it's best to call as soon as you have concerns.
Not necessarily. California specifically allows recovery of a deceased elder's pre-death pain and suffering in qualifying abuse and neglect cases — an exception to the usual rule (Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657). Surviving family may also have a wrongful-death claim. These are time-sensitive, so please reach out promptly.
Elderly patients can decline even with good care. Neglect is different: it's the failure to provide the care a reasonable caregiver would have provided — like ignoring a call light, failing to reposition a bedridden resident, or not treating an infection. We work with medical experts to separate true neglect from an unavoidable decline.
Not for neglect. Neglect is measured by a failure to exercise reasonable care, not by intent. Intent and egregious conduct matter for enhanced remedies like punitive damages, but a strong neglect or financial-abuse case does not require proving the defendant meant to cause harm.
Tell us what happened. We'll listen, give you an honest assessment, and if there's a case, we'll fight it — on a contingency-fee basis, so there's no cost to you unless we recover. When you call, you speak directly with an attorney.
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