Sacramento Elder Abuse Attorneys

Elder Abandonment: A Crime Under California Law

Was Your Loved One Abandoned?

Abuses against the elderly are terrible and sadly they come in many different forms. While elder abuse can encompass physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect among others, it also takes the form of abandonment.

At Newman Law Group, LLP, our entire practice is devoted to protecting the elderly from unthinkable crimes. With 30 years of combined experience and over 50 trials taken to verdict, you can be absolutely confident in our ability to advocate on behalf of your loved one. Elderly abandonment is a crime under California law and our Sacramento elder care attorneys stand ready to help you bring justice to the person or facility who placed your family member in harm's way.

Contact us online or call (916) 352-3224 for a consultation with our elder abandonment attorneys in Sacramento.

Elder Abandonment Laws in California

Some states criminalize the act of abandoning an elderly person, and California is one of them. For example, under Penal Code §368(c), anyone who abandons an elder under circumstances or conditions other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death are guilty of a misdemeanor.

Penalties for any individuals who cause or permit the infliction of pain or mental suffering on an elderly or dependent adult under conditions or circumstances that are likely to cause great bodily injury or death are:

  • Imprisonment in county jail for one year, or in state prison for 2 - 4 years
  • If the victim suffered great bodily injury or death: 7 years

Abandonment – a Dangerous Form of Elder Abuse

The National Center on Elder Abuse defines abandonment as the desertion of an elderly person by someone who has assumed responsibility for providing care for the senior, or by an individual who has physical custody of the elder. There are signs of elderly abandonment that family and other caretakers should look out for.

Signs of abandonment include, but are not limited to:

  • Deserting an elderly person at a hospital, nursing, or long-term facility
  • Deserting an elderly person at a public location
  • The elderly person reports that they were abandoned

Related Elder Abuse Blogs

Seek Help From an Experienced Elder Abandonment attorney

While abandonment does not involve direct physical abuse, it's physical and physiological effects can be equally severe. If your loved one was abandoned by a trusted caregiver, we urge you seek help from our Sacramento elder abuse attorneys.

In a free case evaluation, a Sacramento elder care attorney will listen carefully to your situation and thoroughly explain your legal options for elderly abandonment. We have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients and we would be honored to help bring justice to those who harmed your loved one. Our elder care attorneys have extensive knowledge of elder law in California. If you or a loved one need an elder law attorney near you, contact our elder care law firm.

Call today for the knowledgeable, yet aggressive legal support that you need from skilled Sacramento elder abandonment attorneys at Newman Law Group, LLP.

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  • Dan genuinely cares about the elderly and disabled

    “Dan was invaluable in helping me achieve a favorable result in a lawsuit against a national hospice agency that placed money above the suffering of its dying patients.”

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Our Victories

  • $1,500,000 Neglect Case

    After a critical two months where our client was not bathed and multiple changes of condition went uncommunicated, unreported, and uncared for, she was ambulanced out to an Emergency Room, where her doctors and family were shocked to find that she had a stage IV sacral decubitus ulcer.

  • $1,300,000 Neglect Case

    The client in this case is an adult who is developmentally disabled, bedridden, and unable to speak or move independently. The intermediate care facility where she resided neglected their responsibility to ensure her safety, well-being, and necessary medical attention that she required. As a result, the client suffered a Stage IV wound.

  • $1,000,000 Nursing Home Abuse Case

    Unbeknownst to prospective residents and their families, this defendant RCFE chain was willing to systematically violate laws and its own policies designed to protect vulnerable elders. Willing to admit scores of profitable, high need residents (such as our client), and leave them at the mercy of a few unqualified, untrained and overburdened caregivers.

  • $875,000 Abandonment Case

    Through exhaustive investigation, we found that our client’s death was not the result of a few isolated mistakes by care-givers. Rather, it was the result of this corporate facility’s policies prioritizing occupancy and revenue, while ignoring staff training, staff supervision, and the quality of care being delivered.

  • $775,000 Resident-On-Resident Abuse Case

    While eating dinner at a Skilled Nursing Facility, our client was confronted by another resident who punched him, resulting in our client’s tragic death. The other resident had resided at the facility for five months, and over the course of those five months had engaged in numerous altercations with other residents, including two altercations that occurred in the 24-hour period before he assaulted and killed our client.

  • $750,000 Lack of Proper Care Case

    During our client’s roughly ten-week stay at a skilled nursing facility, he would suffer 8 falls, lose twenty (20) pounds, and develop an unstageable left heel pressure ulcer and a stage II coccyx pressure ulcer due to the facility’s reckless neglect. He was transferred to the hospital, where he was found severely dehydrated, his left heel wound required debridement for eschar and gangrene, and for the first time, a stage II coccyx ulcer was identified.

  • $678,000 Financial Abuse Case

    Our 84-year-old client was the victim of financial elder abuse related to a number of transactions, including the purchase of a home. The Defendant's real estate agents, lender, and escrow company all failed to protect our client throughout the process of purchasing the home, which was orchestrated by a woman who fraudulently siphoned off our client’s entire life savings.

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