Sham marriage and misappropriation leads to disbarment recommendation

A State Bar Court judge recommended last month that a veteran northern California lawyer be disbarred for taking advantage of a sick, elderly man by marrying him and advising him to transfer more than $339,000 to her. LINDA NELL LOWNEY [#83670], 60, of Pacifica was placed on inactive status in March and will lose her license permanently if the Supreme Court accepts Judge Pat McElroy’s recommendation.

Lowney also had her client/husband cremated against his wishes and tried to thwart his intent that his nieces inherit his estate, McElroy said. “This case is about a lawyer who saw an opportunity to take a sick, elderly man’s money and went for it,” McElroy said, and went on to describe Lowney’s behavior as “egregious and heartless.”

Lowney handled estate matters for Thor Tollefsen and in 2005, at the age of 54, became romantically involved with him. He was 85 and suffered from glaucoma, skin and lung cancer and emphysema. Although the couple never lived together, they entered into a confidential marriage that allowed them to keep the marriage out of public records. Lowney continued to live in her Pacifica home and, in less than a year, Tollefsen asked for a divorce and moved into a senior care facility.

Tollefsen was close to two nieces who lived in Norway, called him every Sunday and visited frequently. Although they were the beneficiaries of his trust, they agreed to the transfer of his assets to Lowney at Tollefsen’s request.

Tollefsen died after Lowney took him to the emergency room, where she left him to have lunch with her sister. She didn’t notify the nieces of his death and discouraged them from coming to the U.S., falsely saying she had changed the locks on his house. She also had Tollefsen cremated although his will stated he wanted to donate his body to science, and shredded his financial documents.

Within days of Tollefsen’s death, Lowney filed a petition to remove the nieces as co-trustees, an effort that was rebuffed and led to sanctions of $2,750 against her. She also claimed the nieces breached their fiduciary duty to keep her informed about the trust’s assets.

The court sided with the nieces, as did the court of appeal, which referred Lowney to the bar for possible discipline, finding the case “troubling.” The appellate court raised questions about financial elder abuse and said Lowney improperly tried to take advantage of Tollefsen and “secure a portion of his estate for herself.”

During a four-day trial last year, McElroy said she found Lowney’s testimony incredible and said she committed four acts of misconduct including two counts of moral turpitude – misappropriation of Tollefsen’s funds and filing a false marriage license application. Although Lowney knew the money was to be used for Tollefsen’s care, McElroy found, there is no evidence that happened.

Lowney had no record of discipline in 32-year-long legal career and she presented 15 character witnesses. But McElroy found her behavior outweighed any mitigation. Lowney “thwarted her client’s intent to pass his estate to his nieces,” the judge wrote. “She took advantage of a lonely, sick old man. She cremated him against his wishes and did not even give his ashes to his nieces. She did not have the decency to call the nieces and tell them of his death when their telephone numbers were written in big numbers on his desk in his house. She took all his financial binders and made the trustees hunt the records down by subpoenaing his bank records.”