Taking Advantage of the Aged : Laws must be toughened to protect the elderly from exploitation

Most financial abuse of the elderly goes undetected, hidden behind legal screens such as private trusts, which are neither public nor under the oversight of probate courts. Even relatives or friends who want to protect their loved ones may have little power to intervene.

But, occasionally, something comes to light. For example, lawyer James D. Gunderson, who says he has represented more than 7,000 residents of Leisure World in Laguna Hills, has been accused, in court documents filed by relatives and heirs of some of his clients, of having prepared numerous wills making himself the recipient of millions of dollars in cash, stocks and real estate. In one instance Gunderson received a tax-free $3.5-million bequest from a 98-year-old man whose relatives, according to court documents, said he was “blind and failing in his mental and physical capacities” at the time he signed a new will.

Gunderson has vigorously denied any wrongdoing. None of the charges against him have been proven. Orange County’s chief probate judge has ordered an investigation, and Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi should do the same.

That’s not all that’s needed, however. California should toughen its laws protecting the elderly from unscrupulous lawyers. The California State Bar’s rules of professional conduct say lawyers may accept a gift from a client “subject to general standards of fairness and absence of undue influence.” The California Supreme Court, in a 1962 case, said that such gifts must be “modest” and ruled that a $21,000 bequest in a case at hand did not meet that test.

The State Bar code adds that neither may lawyers induce clients to make substantial gifts to themselves or the attorneys’ relatives.

However, 38 other states have adopted tougher guidelines set by the American Bar Assn. prohibiting lawyers, under threat of disbarment, from preparing trusts or wills in which they are beneficiaries. California should do the same.

Probably no law, however well-crafted, could deter every unscrupulous lawyer intent on taking advantage of the elderly. But strict laws, vigorously enforced, do send a clear message that this type of abuse is contemptible and will not be tolerated.