Q: Is an attorney ethically obligated to report suspected financial abuse of a disabled adult beneficiary by the trustee?
both disabled adult and trustee are sibling beneficiaries of an irrevocable family trust in California.
A: Attorneys are not mandated reporters of suspected financial elder abuse. As well, our ethics rules do not follow the American Bar Association ethics rules all other states follow that allow for more attorney action. Our rules on this subject can be found here: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/rules/Rule_1.6-Exec_Summary-Redline.pdf . While our ethics rules prohibit us from disclosing any confidential communications with our clients, if there is any action we can take to protect our client without violating the rules, we'll take that action.
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