In California, elder abuse and dependent adult private protection law (EADACPA) is one of the most powerful tools available to fight monetary and physical abuse.
"Older" is defined as a person over 65 years old. "Subordinate adult" is a person who is generally 18 to 64 years old who can not perform daily life due to mental disability.
A brief history: EADACPA was encouraged to defend the elderly and weak customers who have not lived long enough for lawyers to hear the court 's appeal. One of the remedies for the property or physical abuse of the elderly and subordinate adults was the right to restore the financial damage to pain and suffering.
Prior to EADACPA, if the client died, its rights were lost. Almost all such civil cases are accepted by lawyers on a contingent fee basis. That is, the lawyer receives a commission only when the case is successful. Percent of recovery for pain and suffering was part of attorney's fee.
The lawyer may have lost the ability to receive a commission commensurate with the expired workload after hundreds of hours of work on the incident.
Even if the victim dies before the end of the lawsuit with EADACPA, the right to recover the pain and cause damage will continue.
Proving EADACPA's claims requires a higher proving burden than the mere control of evidence. In order to receive all available remedial actions, clear and compelling evidence shall prove that defensive measures are intentional and involuntary fraud, malice, repression or recklessness.
If you can display this, the EADACPA legislation allows many other remedies. Victims can also recover punitive damages as a way to punish the accused and can cite an example that this type of act is not tolerated by civil society. Attorney fees and court costs can also be included in the judgment.
One of the most interesting remedies involves abolition of perpetrators from receiving property or money from the property of the victim when the perpetrator dies. Those who are found responsible for the financial or physical abuse of the elderly or subordinate adults are automatically dismissed.
In civil litigation, the cause of other acts (or the theory of liability) is included. However, EADACPA's claim will generally be the most powerful sword used to fight violent acts of predators predisposing vulnerable adults and dependent adults.
By: George F. Dickerman, Esq.
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