042: Nursing Home Abuse and Elder Neglect: What Families Need to Know About Legal Rights and Claims in California

Tue, 05 May 2026 04:00:00 -0400

When a loved one enters a nursing home, most families assume they're safe. James Morgan, founding partner at Lanzone Morgan, LLP in Long Beach, has spent 26 years proving that assumption wrong, and fighting back when it fails.

Morgan breaks down how skilled nursing facilities are licensed in California, where families can research complaint histories (canhr.org is the first stop), and what the warning signs of elder abuse and neglect actually look like. He also clarifies two legal claims that confuse almost everyone: the survival action, which belongs to the deceased, and the wrongful death claim, which belongs to the heirs. They're different cases, different money, and sometimes a source of real conflict when estate beneficiaries and heirs aren't the same people.

Sam Price covers exactly why probate attorneys need to understand this area of law, and why getting documents in order before a crisis hits changes everything.

In this episode, you will hear:

What skilled nursing facilities are and how they differ from hospitals
How California licenses and regulates nursing homes
Where to research complaint histories and red flags before choosing a facility
The legal difference between elder abuse and negligence claims
What survival actions and wrongful death claims are, and why they pay out differently
When and why a probate needs to be opened to pursue an elder abuse case
How conflicting interests between estate beneficiaries and heirs can complicate settlements

Resources from this Episode

The 6-Stage Probate Process: How to Navigate California Probate: https://a.co/d/82310Rw

Look Up Any California Nursing Home: http://canhr.org

Contact Lanzone Morgan, LLP: https://lanzonemorgan.com/contact/

Learn more about James: https://lanzonemorgan.com/our-team/james-morgan/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lanzone-morgan-llp/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LanzoneMorganLLP

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lanzonemorgan/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lanzonemorgan/

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know we sent you.

041: Estate Audit Essentials With Josh Yager

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:00:00 -0400

Most estate plans fail before anyone dies. The trust document is fine — the funding, the beneficiary designations, the asset titling — that's where families get blindsided. Sam Price sits down with Josh Yager, Esq., CFP® and Managing Partner of Anodos Law, to walk through the estate audit: a six-stage process designed to catch those problems while there's still time to fix them cheaply.

Josh breaks down the three types of assets every estate contains, explains what an "orphaned case" costs a family, and makes the case for why adjacent professionals — CPAs, financial advisors — should be running estate audits, not waiting for the attorney's call after the diagnosis.

Josh has settled enough estates to know exactly where things go wrong. This conversation is a practical guide for anyone who touches the estate planning or settlement process.