Orange County Elder Abuse Attorneys Barnes Crosby Raise the Bar in Landmark Case

Online, September 1, 2011 (Newswire.com) - LOS ANGELES, California--Newport Beach elder abuse Attorneys Barnes, Crosby, Fitzgerald, and Zeman have set a new record, securing one of the highest elder abuse settlements in history for client Henrietta Nystrom.

Newport Beach elder abuse Attorneys at the Barnes Crosby law firm were victorious in the case Nystrom v. Wong, in which Ms. Nystrom, widowed after forty years of marriage, was nearly defrauded by her step-daughter using what is known as a Qualified Disclaimer. Soon after her husband's death, Ms. Nystrom received a call from her step-daughter, who advised her to put her estate in order. A week later, Ms. Nystrom met with a pleasant young lawyer to sign a will and trust, leaving her step-daughter all assets upon Ms. Nystrom's death. Just before Ms. Nystrom left, the lawyer suggested that in order to save on estate taxes, she should sign one more page, a "Qualified Disclaimer."

A few weeks later, Ms. Nystrom realized she was not receiving her late husband's dividend checks. Shortly thereafter, her step-daughter filed suit against her. Bewildered, Ms. Nystrom contacted Newport Beach elder abuse Attorneys of the Barnes Crosby law firm. She met with Attorneys Michael Fitzgerald, Eric Francisconi, Larry Zeman, and George Vausher, who then filed a counter suit against the step-daughter to void the Disclaimer.

When the case went to trial in 2009, the court was skeptical of Ms. Nystrom's claim. There is no precedent for setting aside a Qualified Disclaimer; this document is usually known as an iron-clad agreement, authorized by statute. Newport Beach elder abuse Attorneys presented evidence that the step-daughter was an acquaintance of the young lawyer Ms. Nystrom had originally met with. Attorneys showed that this lawyer had drafted the document upon direction from the step-daughter.

In the end, the Court ordered that the Disclaimer be void. The judge further stated that this was the most egregious case of elder financial abuse she had seen from the bench. Ms. Nyholm's step-daughter was ordered to pay all legal fees, court costs, and return all disclaimed properties to Ms. Nyholm.