California Elder Abuse Law: Penal Code 368 Penalties and Civil Remedies

California elder abuse law punishes the mistreatment, neglect, and financial exploitation of people 65 and older, along with dependent adults between 18 and 64 who can’t fully protect themselves. Offenders can face up to nine years in state prison under Penal Code 368, and victims can sue for damages plus mandatory attorney’s fees under the Welfare and Institutions Code. The same framework requires caregivers, health workers, and clergy to report suspected abuse, and it lets victims obtain restraining orders on short notice.

Who the Law Protects

Two groups fall within these protections. An elder is any California resident who is 65 or older.¹ A dependent adult is a resident between 18 and 64 whose physical or mental limitations restrict their ability to carry out normal activities or protect their own rights, including people with developmental disabilities and anyone in that age range admitted as an inpatient to a 24-hour health facility.²

The penalties, civil remedies, and reporting rules that follow apply the same way to both groups.

What Counts as Abuse

Under the Welfare and Institutions Code, abuse of an elder or dependent adult falls into three categories: physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, isolation, abduction, or other treatment that causes physical harm, pain, or mental suffering; the deprivation by a care custodian of goods or services needed to avoid physical harm or mental suffering; and financial abuse.³

Financial abuse has its own detailed definition because it’s one of the most common and least visible forms of mistreatment. It occurs when someone takes, hides, or keeps an elder’s real or personal property for a wrongful use, with intent to defraud, or through undue influence. Helping someone else do those things counts as well.⁴

The wrongful-use standard is broader than outright fraud. A person is treated as having taken property for a wrongful use if they knew or should have known the conduct was likely to harm the elder or dependent adult.⁴ A relative who drains a parent’s account while knowing it will leave the parent unable to pay for care can meet that standard without any sophisticated scheme.

Criminal Penalties Under Penal Code 368

Penal Code 368 is the main criminal statute. What a defendant faces depends on three things: whether the circumstances were dangerous enough to be likely to cause great bodily harm or death, whether the abuse was physical or financial, and, for financial cases, the value of the property taken.

Abuse Under Dangerous Circumstances

When someone willfully causes an elder or dependent adult to suffer, inflicts unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or lets the person’s health be injured under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death, the offense is a wobbler. Prosecutors can charge it as either a misdemeanor or a felony.⁵

Misdemeanor: up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $6,000, or both.
Felony: two, three, or four years in state prison.

The controlling phrase is “likely to produce great bodily harm or death.” What matters is the conditions the abuse created, not whether the harm actually landed. Leaving a bedridden elder without food or water in extreme heat meets the standard even if the person is found in time.

Great Bodily Injury Enhancements

If the victim actually suffers great bodily injury during a felony-level offense, the sentence grows.⁵ For victims under 70, the court adds three years in state prison. For victims 70 or older, the court adds five years. Combined with the base term, a felony conviction involving great bodily injury to someone 70 or older can reach nine years.

Abuse Under Less Dangerous Circumstances

Where the same conduct occurs under circumstances not likely to cause great bodily harm or death, the charge is a straight misdemeanor. A second or subsequent conviction under this section carries a fine of up to $2,000, up to one year in county jail, or both.⁵

Financial Abuse Penalties

Financial crimes have their own schedule under Penal Code 368(d) for non-caretakers and 368(e) for caretakers. Both track the same value threshold.⁵

Property worth more than $950: wobbler. Misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $2,500; felony punishable by two to four years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Property worth $950 or less: misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

These sections cover theft, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, and identity theft when the victim is an elder or dependent adult and the offender knew or should have known the victim’s status.⁶

Civil Remedies for Victims and Families

A criminal conviction punishes the abuser but doesn’t compensate the victim. California’s Elder Abuse Act gives victims civil remedies that go beyond a standard personal injury case.

Physical Abuse and Neglect

When a plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant committed physical abuse, neglect, or abandonment with recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice, the court must award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs on top of compensatory damages.⁷ Without that mandatory fees provision, many victims couldn’t afford representation at all, so the rule is what makes contingency work in these cases.

The same section also lifts certain limits that would normally apply in wrongful death or survival actions, so an estate can recover a broader range of damages if the victim dies.⁷

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse claims have a lower bar. A plaintiff who proves financial abuse by a preponderance of the evidence, the standard civil burden, receives reasonable attorney’s fees and costs automatically. No showing of recklessness or malice is required for the fees award.⁸

If the plaintiff further proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice, additional remedies open up, including the removal of caps that would otherwise limit recovery. Punitive damages may also be available under standard Civil Code provisions.⁸

Filing Deadlines

Physical abuse claims generally follow the two-year personal injury statute of limitations. Financial abuse claims have a four-year window. Both deadlines can shift depending on when the victim discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the abuse, which often matters where the wrongdoing was concealed.

Restraining Orders for Immediate Protection

An elder or dependent adult who has suffered abuse can petition the court for a protective order. So can a conservator, someone holding power of attorney, a guardian ad litem, or another legally authorized representative. Adult Protective Services can petition in certain circumstances on behalf of a victim whose ability to recognize the danger is impaired.⁹

These orders can bar the abuser from contacting or approaching the victim, exclude the abuser from the victim’s home, and restrain other specific conduct the court finds necessary. After a full hearing, the court can make findings that certain debts were incurred as a result of financial abuse and can order the abuser to stop isolating the victim.⁹ An order can be issued on an emergency basis and then extended, so protection can be in place within days of filing.

Who Must Report Suspected Abuse

California law designates certain people as mandated reporters. That group includes anyone who has assumed full or part-time responsibility for the care or custody of an elder or dependent adult, paid or not, along with administrators and licensed staff at care facilities, health practitioners, clergy, Adult Protective Services employees, and law enforcement.¹⁰

A mandated reporter who observes, learns of, or reasonably suspects abuse must make an initial report by telephone or confidential internet reporting tool immediately or as soon as practically possible. A telephone report must be followed by a written or internet report within two working days.¹⁰ Reports go to the county Adult Protective Services office for abuse in the community, or to law enforcement. For abuse in long-term care facilities, reports go to law enforcement and the relevant licensing agency.

Failing to report is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If the failure was willful and the abuse resulted in death or great bodily injury, the penalty rises to up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.¹⁰

Reporters are protected. A mandated reporter who files a report cannot be held civilly or criminally liable for making it. A non-mandated reporter has the same immunity except when they knowingly file a false report.¹¹

Spotting Financial Exploitation Early

Financial abuse often goes undetected because the victim may not review their own accounts or may trust the person taking advantage of them. Common warning signs include unexplained withdrawals from previously inactive accounts, payments to caregivers or family above agreed amounts, purchases inconsistent with the elder’s lifestyle, and checks written to unusual recipients like “cash” or telemarketers. Changes to account documents, such as new authorized signers, statements rerouted to a new address, or sudden modifications to a power of attorney or will, also point to exploitation. On the behavioral side, watch for a companion who controls the elder’s finances, an elder who can’t access their own bank statements, or an elder who lacks basic necessities despite adequate income.

Prevention starts before capacity becomes an issue. Establishing a durable power of attorney while the elder still has capacity lets them choose a trusted person to manage their finances if they later can’t. Setting up account alerts with financial institutions so that unusual transactions trigger notifications, keeping an inventory of assets a trusted family member can review periodically, and making sure the elder stays in contact with more than one person all reduce the opportunity for exploitation. Isolation is both a form of abuse in itself and the condition that makes every other form easier to commit.

1
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15610.27
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15610.23
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15610.07
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15610.30
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California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 368
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California Department of Justice. Elder Abuse Laws (Criminal)
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15657
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15657.5
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15657.03
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15630
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California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 15634