What Happened
When someone is a victim of elder financial abuse, it may be difficult for them to get their life back to where it was before the abuse occurred. An elder’s loss of financial assets and real property significantly harms their financial security at a time when it’s crucial to their general wellbeing.
Thankfully, financial harm incurred by elders as a result of abuse can be kept minimal or be completely reversed with the assistance of a skilled law firm. For instance, Keystone recently assisted a client who suffered abuse at the hands of his caregiver regain full ownership of his real property.
Decades ago, our client had been injured in an accident that affected his mobility. He therefore required the assistance of a full-time caregiver. Initially, the caregiver our client hired took good care of our client, earning his trust. However, the caregiver’s true motivation was eventually revealed, as she exerted undue influence on our client to purchase a real property solely using his own funds but add her to title as a joint owner.
After our client moved into the property with his caregiver, she became hostile and disrespectful toward him. Apparently, she believed she could not be stopped and was willing to take full advantage of our client’s assets while, at the same time, making his life miserable. The caregiver was accessing his bank accounts to send money to herself above and beyond her salary as a caregiver and even moved her family into the home — all without the consent of our client.
How Keystone Was Able to Help
Eventually, our client was forced to move out of his home due to the abusive environment created by the caregiver. With the assistance of his new care facility, he found representation from our firm. We proceeded to file a lawsuit for physical and financial elder abuse against the former caregiver and sought to remove her as a co-owner of the real property, since its title was procured through undue influence and other forms of elder abuse.
Though the caregiver initially had counsel, she ultimately began representing herself — a situation that can pose unique challenges in litigation. Our attorneys aggressively litigated the case by pursuing discovery and securing favorable orders at an early hearing. We then proceeded to skillfully negotiate a speedy resolution directly with the caregiver, reaching a settlement in which she relinquished all interest in the real property within six months of our filing the initial lawsuit.
A Keystone attorney oversaw the caregiver moving out of the property, ensuring it was not only emptied out but that the locks were changed so that our client could enjoy full ownership of his rightful asset.
Although elder abuse can be devastating and irreversible, Keystone vehemently fought for its client’s rights, ultimately restoring his interest in his own real property.
Now, he is free to benefit from the property in whatever way he wishes moving forward.
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