If you suspect a caregiver is stealing, move today: lock down the bank accounts, secure cash and valuables, place a credit freeze, revoke any legal authority the caregiver holds, and file reports with both the police and Adult Protective Services. Knowing what to do if a caregiver steals comes down to running two tracks at once: a criminal investigation led by law enforcement and a civil claim you drive yourself to get the money back. Every day of delay is another day for accounts to drain, items to disappear, and records to vanish.
Lock Down the Money and the House Today
Start with physical items. Remove cash, jewelry, checkbooks, and important documents such as birth certificates, Social Security cards, and property deeds from anywhere the caregiver can reach. A safe deposit box or a trusted relative’s home works for temporary storage. If the caregiver had a house key, change the locks the same day.
Then call every bank and credit card issuer where your loved one holds an account. Report the suspected unauthorized activity, ask for a temporary freeze to block further withdrawals and charges, and request transaction histories going back at least to the date the caregiver started. Many institutions are trained to spot elder financial exploitation and may have flagged the activity already. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network encourages banks to file Suspicious Activity Reports when they detect potential exploitation and to refer victims to the DOJ’s National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311.1Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Advisory on Elder Financial Exploitation
Freeze Credit and Watch for Identity Theft
A caregiver with access to a Social Security number, date of birth, or incoming mail can open new accounts or take out loans in your loved one’s name. Place a credit freeze with all three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A freeze blocks anyone from opening new credit until you lift it, which is stronger protection than a fraud alert.2Federal Trade Commission. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
If you find the caregiver already used personal information fraudulently, report it at IdentityTheft.gov. Filing there generates a recovery plan with step-by-step instructions and sample letters you can send to creditors.3Federal Trade Commission. Report Identity Theft With a police report in hand, you can also request an extended fraud alert that lasts seven years instead of one.2Federal Trade Commission. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
Cut Off the Caregiver’s Legal Authority
This is where families often make the costliest mistake. They discover theft but leave the caregiver’s legal authority intact while they figure out next steps. If the caregiver holds power of attorney, is a representative payee for Social Security benefits, or is an authorized signer on any account, that authority has to be cut off now.
Every state allows a mentally competent principal to revoke a power of attorney at any time. The revocation should be in writing, signed, and notarized. Paper alone is not enough. Send copies of the revocation to every bank, brokerage, insurance company, and healthcare provider that has the original power of attorney on file. Until those institutions get written notice, they may keep honoring the caregiver’s authority.
If your loved one lacks the mental capacity to revoke the power of attorney personally, a family member can petition the court to remove the agent. The court can strip the caregiver’s authority when there is evidence of financial misconduct and, if needed, appoint a conservator or guardian to manage affairs going forward.
Document Everything
Documentation is the foundation for every step that follows: the police investigation, the APS case, and any lawsuit. Pull bank statements, credit card bills, and canceled checks covering the full period of the caregiver’s employment. Look for withdrawals your loved one did not authorize, payments to unfamiliar vendors, and patterns of small transactions that may have been designed to stay under the radar.
Build an inventory of missing items. For each piece of jewelry, electronic, or other property, write down a description, estimated value, and the last time you saw it in the home. Dig through old photographs for images where the items appear in the background, and photograph the empty spaces where they used to sit. This inventory becomes the backbone of any restitution claim.
Preserve every relevant communication. Screenshot or back up suspicious text messages, emails, and voicemails rather than just taking notes on them. Talk discreetly with people who may have seen concerning behavior: neighbors, visiting friends, other household workers. Record their names, contact information, and what they observed. Their accounts can corroborate the timeline and fill gaps the financial records leave open.
Report to the Right Agencies
Each report serves a different purpose, and you do not need polished documentation to start. File early and supplement as you learn more.
Police
Contact your local police or sheriff’s department and file a formal report. Bring your financial evidence and inventory of missing items. The police report creates the official record you will need for insurance claims, credit bureau disputes, and any later lawsuit. Be specific about dollar amounts and dates where you can. If the responding officer seems unfamiliar with elder financial exploitation, ask that the report be routed to a detective who handles financial crimes or elder abuse.
Adult Protective Services
File a separate report with your local Adult Protective Services agency. Under the Elder Justice Act, APS agencies investigate reports of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and they can arrange protective services such as emergency orders, case planning, and referrals to legal aid.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1397j – Definitions Police focus on the criminal case; APS focuses on your loved one’s safety.
APS has limits worth knowing in advance. The agency cannot force services on someone who has the mental capacity to refuse help, and it cannot enter a home without permission from an adult who lives there. APS does not act as a guardian or provide emergency housing. If APS decides your loved one needs a guardian and no family member can serve, the agency will typically refer the case to a state guardianship services office. Find your local APS office through the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116.5USAging. Eldercare Locator
The Caregiver’s Agency or Licensing Board
If the caregiver was hired through a home care agency, file a formal complaint with the agency directly. Many agencies carry surety bonds or liability insurance as a condition of their Medicare or Medicaid participation, but the scope varies and may not directly reimburse clients for individual theft. Ask the agency specifically whether its bonding or insurance covers client property losses. A report to the relevant state licensing board can also lead to revocation of the caregiver’s certification, which keeps them from working with other vulnerable adults.
HHS Office of Inspector General
When a caregiver is paid through Medicare or Medicaid, the theft may also be healthcare fraud. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General accepts tips about fraud, waste, and abuse in federal healthcare programs online or by phone at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477).6Office of Inspector General. Submit a Hotline Complaint Not every tip results in an investigation given the volume of complaints, but filing creates a record that supports other enforcement actions.
Recover the Money Through a Civil Lawsuit
A criminal prosecution is controlled by the state. A civil lawsuit is controlled by you, and its goal is getting the money back. The two can run at the same time, and you do not need a criminal conviction first.
The most common civil claim here is conversion, the legal term for someone wrongfully taking or using your property. To prevail you need to show that your loved one owned the property, the caregiver intentionally took or used it without authorization, and that interference caused a loss. If the caregiver also held a power of attorney or another position of trust, a breach of fiduciary duty claim may apply. That claim alleges the caregiver violated a legal obligation to act in your loved one’s best interest.
The standard of proof in a civil case is preponderance of the evidence, meaning you need to show your version is more likely than not. That is a much lower bar than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard in criminal cases, and many families who struggle to secure a criminal conviction find more success in civil court for that reason.
If you win, the court can order the caregiver to return the property or pay its value plus associated costs. Many states have enacted specific elder financial exploitation statutes that provide enhanced damages, such as double or triple the value of the stolen property, along with attorney’s fees. An elder law attorney in your state can tell you what multiplier, if any, applies.
Small Claims Court
When the total loss falls within your state’s small claims limit, small claims court is a faster, cheaper route than a full civil lawsuit. Maximum recovery amounts vary by state, generally ranging from around $5,000 to $25,000. You typically do not need an attorney, and cases resolve in weeks. The trade-off: small claims courts usually award only monetary judgments and cannot order the caregiver to return specific items.
Watch the Statute of Limitations
Every civil claim has a deadline, and the clock often starts when the theft occurred or when you reasonably should have discovered it. These time limits vary by state and by the type of claim. Missing the deadline means losing the right to sue, no matter how strong your evidence is. Consult an attorney promptly, even while you are still gathering records.
Criminal Restitution
If the caregiver is convicted, the court can order restitution as part of the sentence. For federal property offenses, restitution is mandatory: the court must order the defendant to return the stolen property or, when return is impossible, pay the greater of the property’s value on the date of loss or the date of sentencing.7GovInfo. 18 USC 3663A – Mandatory Restitution to Victims of Certain Crimes Most state courts follow a similar model, though details and enforcement vary.
Criminal restitution has one big advantage over a civil judgment: the criminal justice system enforces it, so a defendant who fails to pay faces consequences beyond owing money. The disadvantage is that you do not control the timeline. Restitution depends on the prosecutor securing a conviction and the judge including it in the sentence. If the criminal case stalls, pleads down, or ends in acquittal, you may get nothing through this channel. Pursuing a civil claim in parallel is worth considering rather than relying on the criminal case alone.
When Your Loved One Cannot Act for Themselves
Many of these steps assume someone has legal authority to act for the victim. If your loved one has dementia, a severe disability, or another condition that impairs financial and legal decision-making, you may need to establish that authority through the courts before you can freeze accounts, revoke a power of attorney, or file suit.
Guardianship or conservatorship (terminology varies by state) gives a court-appointed person legal authority over the incapacitated adult’s finances, healthcare decisions, or both. When exploitation is actively happening, many courts allow an emergency petition that can be resolved in days rather than the weeks or months a standard guardianship case takes. The emergency guardian typically has authority to secure accounts, revoke existing powers of attorney, and take immediate protective action.
Filing for guardianship requires a petition, medical evidence of incapacity, and usually a hearing. An elder law or probate attorney is strongly recommended, both because the procedural requirements are strict and because a poorly drafted petition can delay the very protection your loved one needs. If no family member is willing or able to serve, APS can refer the case to a state guardianship services office.
Don’t Expect a Tax Deduction
Families sometimes ask whether they can at least deduct the stolen amount on their loved one’s tax return. Under current federal law, personal theft losses are deductible only when the theft is connected to a federally declared disaster or, starting in 2026, a state-declared disaster. A caregiver stealing from your loved one does not qualify.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4684 A narrow exception allows personal theft losses to offset personal casualty gains, which arise when insurance proceeds exceed the tax basis of damaged or stolen property. In most caregiver theft cases that exception does not help, because there are no casualty gains to offset. If you think an exception may fit your situation, talk to a tax professional before filing Form 4684.