What you can do the moment you find missing money depends on the authority you already hold, not on how fast you want to move. Power of attorney or joint ownership means your fastest path is usually a same-day call to the bank’s fraud department, alongside a report to Texas Adult Protective Services at 1-800-252-5400. Without that authority, document what you found, file the APS report, and confirm with an elder law attorney what standing you have. Call 911 immediately, whatever your authority, if your parent is in physical danger or a crime is happening now.

Key Insights

• What you can do first depends on your legal authority. Power of attorney or joint ownership lets you act with the bank directly. Without it, whether you can freeze anything is a question for an attorney.
• Texas APS takes a report on an adult 65 or older from anyone, no legal authority needed, on a 24/7 hotline (1-800-252-5400). Call 911 instead for immediate physical danger or an in-progress crime.
• APS response time varies by the priority intake assigns. A financial-exploitation-only case can carry a 14-day window, so it is not your fast lane.
• Document everything before you confront anyone, and expect an attorney, not APS, to answer whether you have standing to freeze accounts or revoke a power of attorney.

Table of Contents

1. What is the very first thing I should do if I suspect financial exploitation?
2. How do I freeze or lock accounts without making things worse?
3. What exactly should I document, and how?
4. When do I call Texas Adult Protective Services, and what happens after I report?
5. When does this become a police matter instead of, or in addition to, an APS report?
6. When do I need an elder law attorney, and what can one actually do?
7. How does reporting differ if the person exploiting my parent is a family member?
8. Frequently Asked Questions
9. Related Reading

What is the very first thing I should do if I suspect financial exploitation?

Find out exactly what accounts exist and what your name is on, before you gather evidence or confront anyone. Everything else depends on that answer, and attempting a freeze you have no right to request can stall the bank and tip off the person responsible.

How do I freeze or lock accounts without making things worse?

Find which of these positions you are in first.

If you hold power of attorney or a joint account

A valid, current power of attorney or joint ownership generally lets you contact the bank, report suspected fraud, and request a hold the same day, since most banks have a dedicated elder financial abuse unit. Bring the actual document; the bank will still verify it, especially if the suspected exploiter is also named on the account.

If your parent still has full capacity

Let your parent make the call. A fraud report from the account holder moves faster than one filed on their behalf, and settles any later question about who had the right to act.

If you don’t yet have legal authority

Do not attempt to freeze an account you are not named on. Confirm with an elder law attorney whether you have standing to act. What you can still do is report to the bank’s fraud department, since most banks will flag an account for review at a family member’s request without freezing it, and report to Texas APS. Neither requires the authority a freeze does.

If the suspected exploiter shares that authority

Do not tip your hand before a freeze or report is in motion, since alerting them can prompt them to move what is left. Document first, then call APS or an attorney.

Credit freezes follow the same authority rule

A credit freeze at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion is free and stops new accounts being opened in your parent’s name, but it is not a step you can take for them. If your parent has capacity, the cleanest route is for your parent to place their own freeze at all three bureaus. To place one on their behalf, federal law requires you to give each bureau proof of authority: a court order, such as one naming you guardian or conservator, or a valid power of attorney, plus proof of your own identity such as a driver’s license (Federal Trade Commission). If you hold neither document, that gap is itself a reason to ask an attorney whether you have standing and what obtaining it involves.

Comparison: Which Contact Fits Your Situation Right Now

What exactly should I document, and how?

Every agency you contact, from APS to the bank to an eventual attorney, asks the same three questions: what happened, when did you notice, and what proof do you have. Build the file now, and keep it where the suspected exploiter cannot reach, including any shared cloud drive or email.

Screenshot the transactions, going back six months if you can, noting date, amount, and destination. Keep a dated timeline in your own words, since a contemporaneous note carries more weight than one written later. Save texts, emails, or voicemails about money, gifts, loans, or account access. Locate the most recent power of attorney and will, and check for recently added authorized users or beneficiaries, since an unexplained change there is worth raising with an attorney. Log the date, intake worker, and case number for every report.

When do I call Texas Adult Protective Services, and what happens after I report?

Call Texas APS whenever you suspect financial exploitation of an adult 65 or older, or an adult with a disability. You need neither proof nor a named suspect, just reasonable suspicion, a lower bar than most families assume. The Texas Abuse Hotline, 1-800-252-5400, runs 24 hours a day, and if your parent is not in immediate danger you can report at txabusehotline.org and attach your documentation.

What happens next: Intake staff ask about your parent’s living situation, the suspected exploitation, and any immediate danger, then assign a priority level. That priority sets the response clock, so do not assume a caseworker is at the door this week. Texas DFPS attempts face-to-face contact on this schedule:

• Within 24 hours where there is a risk of death or serious harm
• Within 3 days where serious harm is likely
• Within 7 days for abuse or neglect without imminent serious harm
• Within 14 calendar days where the case involves only financial exploitation and the person is not facing immediate hardship or going without basic needs (Texas DFPS)

A report about money alone often lands in that last category, which is exactly why the bank and attorney tracks run in parallel instead of waiting on APS. APS can refer a case to law enforcement or the district attorney, but does not prosecute and does not recover money.

When does this become a police matter instead of, or in addition to, an APS report?

Call 911 if your parent is in immediate physical danger, being coerced in the moment, or the person exploiting them is present and unwilling to leave. Use the police non-emergency line if a crime such as theft, forgery, or fraud has clearly occurred and you have proof.

A police report and an APS report are not either-or, and you often should file both. APS handles safety and ongoing protective needs, police and the district attorney handle the criminal side, and a police report strengthens your position for civil recovery.

When do I need an elder law attorney, and what can one actually do?

Bring in an elder law attorney once you are past the immediate safety and reporting steps and into questions of recovery, capacity, or authority. An attorney is not a substitute for reporting to APS. Their value is revoking or challenging a misused power of attorney, pursuing a civil claim to recover transferred funds, petitioning for guardianship or a less restrictive alternative, and confirming what standing you hold, including whether you can request any freeze at all.

Ask whether they have handled exploitation recovery specifically, not just estate planning, and whether a consultation can assess if recovery is realistic at this amount.

How does reporting differ if the person exploiting my parent is a family member?

The steps do not change; the emotional weight does. If the person you suspect is a sibling, your parent’s spouse, or another relative, reporting can feel like a betrayal, or like involving police will tear the family apart in a way that outlasts the money. That fear is exactly what lets family-member exploitation run longer than a stranger’s, and the research bears it out: one study found family members the most common perpetrators, at 57.9 percent, most often adult children.

APS treats a family-member report like any other, your name stays confidential, and a report is not an accusation of a crime. If a family power of attorney or joint account is involved, get an attorney in early: undoing a relative’s authority is harder than flagging a stranger’s account.

You are allowed to protect your parent and still love the person you are reporting. Those two things are not in conflict, even when it feels that way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need proof before I call Texas Adult Protective Services?
No. APS accepts reports on reasonable suspicion, and the investigation determines whether exploitation occurred. Waiting for an airtight case usually means waiting until more money is gone. Call 1-800-252-5400, describe what you saw, and intake will tell you whether it warrants a referral.

Will filing an APS or police report get my family member in trouble even if I am wrong?
Texas law protects good-faith reporters from civil or criminal liability even if the investigation does not substantiate the claim, and your identity stays confidential except by court order.

Can APS freeze my parent’s bank accounts for me?
No. APS investigates and connects your parent to protective services, but cannot freeze a bank account or credit file. A bank freeze requires your parent’s own action, a valid power of attorney, joint ownership, or a court order obtained through an attorney, and a credit freeze on their behalf requires that same documented authority filed with each bureau. That is why the freeze and the APS report run on parallel tracks, and why no dollar threshold is worth waiting for.

What if my parent defends the person exploiting them or denies anything is wrong?
This is common, especially when the person is trusted or cognitive decline is affecting judgment, and it is one of the hardest moments to sit in as an adult child. You can still file an APS report on your own observations. Your parent’s cooperation is not required, and a caseworker assesses capacity separately.

Related Reading

• Elder Financial Abuse: Warning Signs Every Texas Family Should Know: read this first if you are still confirming what you are seeing.
• Sibling Disputes Over Power of Attorney in Texas: What Are Your Rights?: essential if a sibling’s use, or misuse, of power of attorney is involved.

Talk to a Proactive Caregiver Financial Strategist

Discovering financial exploitation is a legal and an emotional situation at once, and no single call fixes both halves. If you need your parent’s finances organized for an attorney or caseworker, or a plan for the months of unwinding after a report, talk to a Proactive Caregiver Financial Strategist.

This article is educational and does not constitute legal, medical, investment, or insurance advice, and is not a substitute for a physician, elder law attorney, licensed investment adviser, insurance adviser, or a government eligibility determination. For any legal action, including freezing accounts or recovering funds, consult a licensed elder law attorney in your state.

Citations

• Texas DFPS, Adult Protective Services case process: the priority levels and face-to-face response deadlines quoted above.
• Texas DFPS, Report Abuse or Neglect: the 24-hour hotline number and the online reporting option.
• Acierno et al., prevalence of financial exploitation of older adults: family members as the most common perpetrators, 57.9 percent.
• Federal Trade Commission, managing someone else’s money: the proof of authority each credit bureau requires before you can place a freeze for another adult.