Millions Of Dollars Recovered For Our Clients.
Dedicated & Tenacious Litigation Lawyers in Indianapolis
Elder abuse rarely announces itself. It shows up as a parent who has become withdrawn and will not say why, a bank account that has quietly emptied, a bruise with an explanation that does not add up, or a caregiver who has started managing every phone call. Families usually spend weeks hoping they are wrong before they let themselves ask the question. Elder abuse claims cover the harm done when someone responsible for an older adult’s care, finances, or wellbeing exploits that position, whether that person is a facility employee, a hired in-home caregiver, a neighbor, or a relative.
Indiana law recognizes several forms of it, including physical abuse, emotional and psychological abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial exploitation. Much of Indiana’s framework is built around the concept of an endangered adult, meaning someone at least 18 years old who is unable to manage their property or provide self care because of mental illness, dementia, or another physical or mental incapacity. Indiana also places a reporting duty on everyone, not just doctors and social workers. Any person who believes an endangered adult is being battered, neglected, or exploited is required to report it to Adult Protective Services or law enforcement, and people who report in good faith are protected from liability for doing so.
Financial exploitation is the form we see most often and the one families most often assume they cannot do anything about. It usually involves someone with access, a joint account holder, a person holding a power of attorney, a court appointed guardian, or a relative who moved in to help, who then transfers money, changes a beneficiary, sells property, or spends down assets for their own benefit. Someone acting under a power of attorney or a guardianship owes fiduciary duties and can be required to account for every dollar. And where the conduct amounts to theft or conversion, Indiana’s Crime Victims Relief Act allows a civil recovery of up to three times the actual damages, plus costs and a reasonable attorney fee, which changes the math on cases that might otherwise be too small to pursue.
At RileyCate, we appear regularly in the Hamilton County courts where these cases are filed. That proximity is practical rather than promotional. It means we can meet a family in person, visit a facility or a home, and get in front of a judge quickly when a situation needs an emergency order or an accounting. We handle physical abuse and neglect claims, financial exploitation and fiduciary breach claims, cases involving assisted living and long-term care facilities in Noblesville and across Hamilton County, and wrongful death claims when abuse or neglect contributed to a death.
Elder abuse cases are hard for reasons that have nothing to do with the law. The victim is often the person least able to explain what happened, the evidence sits with the people who did it, and the defendant is frequently a family member, which turns a legal problem into a family crisis at the same time. Our attorneys have handled cases built on exactly this kind of proof, including a 350,000 dollar recovery for a victim of domestic battery and a 250,000 dollar recovery in a case involving battery on a child. Will Riley and Russell Cate lead this work. Russell Cate is recognized as a Super Lawyer, and his and Will Riley’s appellate work before the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Indiana Supreme Court gives our clients real depth in this kind of litigation. Will Riley’s Super Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and AV Preeminent recognition reflects that same trial-tested approach.
Will and Russell personally oversee every matter we take, staffing it with the attorneys, associates, and staff the case calls for based on its size and complexity. We will also be straight with you about what the evidence supports, including when the honest answer is that a suspicion is not yet a case and what it would take to find out. Families in this situation are usually managing a parent’s care, a fractured family, and their own guilt all at once, and we try hard not to add to that.
Nobody plans to need a lawyer. When something goes wrong, what you need first is someone who will listen, tell you honestly where you stand, and take the next steps off your plate. That is how every case at RileyCate, LLC begins.
We represent individuals, families, and small businesses across Fishers, Indianapolis, and surrounding counties in personal injury and complex litigation, business and real estate disputes, criminal defense, and appeals.
Will Riley and Russell Cate personally oversee every matter, staffing each case to its size and complexity. Both are recognized as Super Lawyers and have argued before the Indiana Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Will also holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a Top 100 Trial Lawyer designation.
We are trial-tested, not just settlement-focused. We have tried hundreds of cases, because insurance companies, opposing businesses, and prosecutors negotiate differently with a firm willing to go the distance.
If you believe someone is abusing, neglecting, or taking financial advantage of an older adult in your family, the first step is a conversation, and it costs you nothing. We offer a free consultation to go through what you have noticed, explain how Indiana law applies, and tell you honestly whether there is something here worth pursuing. Reach out to RileyCate today to speak with an elder abuse attorney serving Noblesville and Hamilton County.
If you believe someone is in immediate danger, call 911 first. To report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an endangered adult in Indiana, you can call Adult Protective Services at 1-800-992-6978. Reporting does not prevent you from pursuing a civil claim, and a completed investigation often helps one.
