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Financial Exploitation

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Financial exploitation of vulnerable adults is epidemic. But that’s not news.

CT has been on the front lines of developing the tools of civil litigation that victims and their families have used to defend themselves and recover their losses. While most law firms wouldn’t know where to begin with these cases, at CT we are working on these matters every single day. This is our bag.

To Read More on Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults, Check Out These Articles:

The Fall of the High Achiever

Nov 13, 2017 | Doug Chalgian

I litigate cases involving exploitation of older adults. Early in my career, I was in court on a particularly difficult case. A highly respected schol ...

Patterns in Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults Case...

Aug 01, 2014 | Doug Chalgian

Clients who meet with me about elderly family members who are being, or have been, financially exploited are often surprised when, shortly into tellin ...
Elder Law Litigation and the Lessons I’ve Learned

Elder Law Litigation and the Lessons I've Learned

Jan 01, 2010 | Doug Chalgian

Elder law litigation is on the rise. But little has been written about it, and from what I see in probate courts around the state, little is...

And These Blog Posts About Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults

Playing the Sanctions Game in Probate Court

By Doug Chalgian on Feb 19, 2017

The Court of Appeals recently issued an unpublished opinion in three combined appeals all relating to the Estate of Robert Winfield Cederquist (click here to read the opinion).  The case provides a good launching spot from which to review the rules...

Medical Experts Carry Conservatorship Case

By Doug Chalgian on Dec 02, 2016

Nice analysis in this recent unpublished COA opinion. Click here to read In Re Conservatorship of Stephen Michalak.  Congrats to my colleague Valerie Kutz-Otway for her successful advocacy on behalf of her client, Mr. Michalak. The case suggests an...

Meaty Morris Matter Unfortunately Unpublished

By Doug Chalgian on Sep 03, 2016

The Court of Appeals recently released its opinion in the Estate of Stanley Morris. Click on the name to read the case. There’s a lot here, and a lot of what, in my opinion, is new law or at least clarifications. Someone put some time into...

The Love Dance of Arbutus and Lyle

By Doug Chalgian on May 26, 2016

In the woods of Keewenaw County, Lyle married Arbutus and they operated a little shop together. Lyle took a job with the park service which took him away from home for periods. In time, Lyle began having an affair with Susan.  Lyle and Susan...

Litigation Strategies Part V: Kissing Frogs

By Doug Chalgian on Mar 10, 2016

The topic of this post is: How to gather information at an initial meeting with clients seeking representation in an undue influence case, from a lawyer’s perspective. Start with the proposition that nearly all will and trust contests, and many...

The (Dysfunctional) Family Prayer

By Doug Chalgian on Oct 03, 2015

With the holiday season coming – and thinking about my elder law practice and clients – I came up with this idea.  Please don’t take offense – it is meant to be a joke – more or less. Dear ______ As we gather together during this holiday...

Only in Ann Arbor?

By Doug Chalgian on Aug 22, 2015

The first time I met my client was early one morning at the Starbucks on Main St. in Ann Arbor. He had flown in the night before, and I had driven down that morning from East Lansing. The Starbucks is a couple blocks from the Courthouse where we had...

Marriage and Financial Exploitation

By Doug Chalgian on Sep 11, 2014

Saw this article yesterday about persons with dementia.  click here. Lord I feel jaded.  I see an article about 90+ year olds finding love, and I automatically think “gold-digger.”  What’s wrong with me? The reality though is that while...

Capacity to Marry

By Doug Chalgian on Dec 20, 2012

Here’s an interesting published Court of Appeals decision that many probate practitioners may have missed, because it came out of a circuit court, but which has significant implications in the arena of financial exploitation of vulnerable adults....

Good Guys Win Financial Exploitation Case

By Chalgian & Tripp on Feb 08, 2015

Frances and Elizabeth Stafford were sisters in the Bay City area. When Elizabeth died, her trust continued for the benefit of Frances. Frances was a vulnerable adult, physically and cognitively impaired. Her trusted financial advisor of many years...

Rebutting Presumption of Undue Influence

By Doug Chalgian on Dec 21, 2013

It’s over – at least for now.  The Mortimore case. This is a case I have spoken and written about quite a bit for the past year. Common facts: Older gentleman.  His wife of many years dies.  New woman becomes involved. Alienates family. ...

Why the Lucid Moment Needs to End

By Doug Chalgian on May 19, 2013

There’s a case I read a couple years ago that bothers me and that I’ve been wanting to comment on it since.  It is an unpublished decision in which the trial court held that a trust amendment was invalid due to lack of capacity and undue...

Anatomy of Senior Seminar Scam

By Doug Chalgian on Dec 29, 2012

When you reach a certain age you begin receiving invitations to “educational seminars.”  Often bright colored postcards in the mail, sometimes formalistic letters, even advertisements in the local paper. Usually they offer a “free meal.” In...

Working on a Wire

By Doug Chalgian on Dec 20, 2012

My legal practice has become consumed with litigation. Litigation involving the resources of one (older) generation and the expectations and overreaching of the next (younger, but not young) generation. I have come to think of the work I do as being...

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