Financial Elder Abuse: Warning Signs, Who Must Report and Where to Report in California

The definition is in Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.30. Financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult occurs when a person or entity takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains or retains the person's real or personal property for a wrongful use or with intent to defraud, or both. It also covers assisting in that, and taking property by undue influence.

Two details widen the definition. A person is deemed to have taken property for a wrongful use if he or she knew or should have known that the conduct was likely to be harmful to the elder. And property counts as taken when the elder is deprived of any property right, including by means of an agreement, a gift or a bequest in a will, even if the property is held by a conservator, trustee or agent under a power of attorney.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) puts it plainly: financial abuse is when someone takes or misuses an older adult's money or assets for the benefit of someone other than the older adult. It notes that the person may be a neighbor, caregiver, professional, relative or friend. Whether particular facts meet the definition is for the investigating agency or an attorney to say.

A move brings a house sale, new bank arrangements, new documents and new people. The CFPB's guide for families of people in nursing homes and assisted living lists red flags. Among them:

• Unpaid bills at the care home, doctor or pharmacy when your parent should have enough money to cover them.
• Your parent says money or property is being misused, or that a checkbook, card or important papers are missing.
• Someone presses your parent to change a will, deed or trust, or to sign a document "now".
• Your parent cannot make decisions any longer, yet signs a new power of attorney, will or other legal document.
• Someone claims to manage your parent's money but has no written proof, such as a signed power of attorney.
• You are allowed to visit only when a certain person is present, or that person often speaks for your parent.
• Checks made out to cash, card charges for things your parent did not buy, or a signature that looks different.
• Possessions go missing, or basics such as toothpaste run out while the personal needs account is empty.
• Gifts or sales of valuables to care staff or volunteers.
• After you start asking questions, someone announces a plan to move your parent somewhere else.

Welfare and Institutions Code section 15630 makes certain people mandated reporters. They include anyone who has assumed full or intermittent responsibility for the care or custody of an elder or dependent adult, paid or not, the administrators, supervisors and licensed staff of a facility that provides care for elders, care custodians, health practitioners and clergy. A mandated reporter who, in a professional capacity or within the scope of employment, sees or learns of what reasonably appears to be financial abuse, or is told of it by the elder, must report by telephone or the state's confidential online tool immediately or as soon as practicably possible. A telephone report must be followed in writing within two working days. When the abuse occurred in a long-term care facility, the section sets shorter deadlines and names the Ombudsman, local law enforcement and the state licensing agency as recipients.

Section 15630.1 adds all officers and employees of banks and credit unions as mandated reporters of suspected financial abuse. They report to local Adult Protective Services or law enforcement. If they know the customer lives in a long-term care facility, they report to the local Ombudsman or law enforcement. The same section lets a financial institution decline to honor a power of attorney as to an agent it has reported for suspected financial abuse.

Relatives and friends who are not mandated reporters may still report. Section 15631 says any person who knows or reasonably suspects that an elder has been the victim of abuse may report it.

If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Otherwise the right door depends on where your parent lives and who is involved. The phone numbers are the ones on the state agencies' pages in October 2026. Complaints about a licensed home also go to California's Community Care Licensing Division, as described in complaints about assisted living. The main routes are:

The CFPB's guide sets out an order of work for family and friends:

1. 1

   Talk with your parent alone

   Speak away from the person you are worried about, stay calm and listen. It may take several conversations. Memory loss can make a person believe something was stolen when it was not, so look at records too.

2. 2

   Write down what you see

   Note dates, times, places, names of anyone who saw it, and keep copies of statements or documents.

3. 3

   Report, even without every detail

   The CFPB says you are not expected to have clear proof before reporting. Your job is to share what you observed.

4. 4

   Contact the bank

   Work with your parent to tell the financial institution what happened and file a report with it.

5. 5

   Ask about legal options

   A legal aid program or private lawyer can say whether your parent has a way to recover money or stop further loss.

Assisted living communities and board and care homes are licensed in California as residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs). Title 22, section 87217 bars a licensee or any employee from accepting appointment as a resident's guardian or conservator, accepting a general or special power of attorney for a resident, or becoming a joint tenant on a resident's account. A licensee may be a resident's payee only if the Social Security Administration appoints it as representative payee.

When a home holds a resident's cash or valuables, it must give receipts, keep the money separate from its own and keep a current ledger. Knowing who is allowed to sign what is the best protection, and it is covered in managing a parent's money to pay for care, using Social Security and pensions to pay for care and who is responsible for the assisted living bill.

Hamssa Benrekia is a senior living placement specialist in Torrance who helps families in the South Bay and Harbor area find licensed assisted living communities and board and care homes. She refers families only to homes licensed by the State of California, and she checks a home's public licensing record of citations and complaints. She does not investigate reports of abuse and does not give legal advice.

More topics are in the California Assisted Living Placement Guide. To talk about a search, contact Hamssa.