Can I Sue a California Nursing Home for Elder Abuse?

Michael Benavides • July 17, 2026

California's Elder Abuse Act gives families enhanced remedies — attorney's fees and uncapped pain-and-suffering damages — when neglect turns reckless.

The Question Every Family Eventually Asks

You trusted a facility to care for your parent, and instead they were hurt. The first question is almost always the same: can we actually hold them accountable? In California, the answer is often yes — and the law gives families a remedy built specifically for this. Ava asked attorney Michael Benavides how it works.

Ava Asks, Michael Answers — Suing a Nursing Home, Plain English

Ava: Can a family really sue a nursing home in California?

Michael, Esq.: Yes. California has one of the strongest elder-protection laws in the country — the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, Welfare and Institutions Code section 15600 and following. It lets a victim, or the family after a death, sue a facility for abuse or neglect.

Ava: What makes it stronger than a regular negligence case?

Michael, Esq.: Section 15657. If you prove by clear and convincing evidence that the neglect was reckless, oppressive, fraudulent, or malicious, the court awards your attorney's fees and costs and lifts the usual cap on pre-death pain-and-suffering damages. Ordinary negligence doesn't do that. It's why these cases carry real weight.

Ava: Are the verdicts actually large?

Michael, Esq.: They can be. In 2026 a Roseville jury returned $25.8 million over two unstageable heel pressure sores that developed in a two-week stay, including $13 million in punitive damages. A Sonoma County jury awarded more than $20 million in Donahue v. MBK Senior Living for repeated falls and untreated neglect tied to chronic understaffing. These aren't paperwork cases.

Ava: What if Mom already passed away?

Michael, Esq.: You may still have a claim. The Act was written so a facility can't escape responsibility just because the victim died — the suffering the elder endured before death can survive as damages. That is central to how these cases are valued.

What to Do

In California, families can sue a care facility for elder abuse under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15600 and following, and section 15657 adds attorney's fees and uncapped pre-death pain-and-suffering damages when the neglect is reckless. Recent verdicts have reached eight figures. Preserve the chart, photograph any injuries, and act quickly — a free Law Desk consult reviews the records and tells you whether what happened crosses the line.

Law Desk by Michael Benavides, Esq. — free elder-abuse consult | CA Bar No. 270714 | Sacramento, Modesto, San Jose, San Francisco & Oakland | 707-362-4166 | attorneymichaelbenavides.com

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. Law Desk is a legal-content brand of the law practice of Michael Benavides, Esq., California State Bar No. 270714. Ava is an editorial brand voice, not an attorney; only Michael Benavides, Esq. provides legal analysis. General information only — not legal advice; no attorney-client relationship is formed by reading this. Authority referenced (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15600, 15657) is as of mid-2026; verdict figures are as reported and do not guarantee any outcome. California law may change — confirm current statutes before acting.

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