Dozens of elderly Hawaii people are turning over their property, life savings and powers of attorney to people who come into their lives in their final years, raising concerns among senior citizens’ advocates that many could fall victim to unscrupulous caregivers.

The number of financial exploitation cases across the islands grew to 383 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, from 162 in fiscal year 2009, according to the state Department of Human Services’ Adult Protective Services.

The number of confirmed incidents of financial exploitation more than doubled to 35 in fiscal year 2010 from 15 in fiscal 2009, then dipped to 33 in fiscal 2011, the department said.

"Given the fact that we have a rapidly aging population and a growing number of elders who are going to be living alone in the years ahead, it’s unfortunate that there’ll be a greater vulnerability in the years ahead for elders who have to reach out to a non-family member for assistance and may, as a result, put themselves in a vulnerable position," said Bruce Bottorff, associate state director of AARP Hawaii.

Lawyers on Maui are preparing for a possible March trial to argue who should receive the $70 million estate of Laurence H. Dorcy, who died June 2 at age 76.

Dorcy, who was known on Maui as "The Baron," originally planned to leave his fortune to 30 charities, according to court documents. He later wrote a second will giving his assets to a Kula gas station owner named Hans M. Kanuha, whom Dorcy adopted at the age of 42, according to the documents.

The Dorcy case surprised senior citizen advocates because of the size of Dorcy’s disputed estate. But they say suspected cases of senior financial exploitation involving much smaller amounts are occurring with increasing frequency across the state.

"It’s often the un-befriended or recently widowed person who is very vulnerable," said Jim Pietsch, director of the University of Hawaii’s Elder Law Program, which provides legal assistance to socially and economically needy people on Oahu above age 60. "Add diminished capacity from a stroke, or just the aging process, and then they’re much more susceptible to undue influence."

In another case the chairman of the Ewa Neighborhood Board has been accused in a lawsuit of improperly acquiring the Ewa home of a 79-year-old man he and his wife cared for.

Melanie Burroughs of Jacksonville, Fla., filed the lawsuit in Circuit Court in June against board Chairman Kurt Fevella and his wife, Donnalee, who had cared for her father, Paul William Burroughs, before his death in June 2009.

Burroughs alleges in the lawsuit that her father planned to leave the majority of his estate to her, including his three-bedroom, one-bathroom home in Ewa.

"The Fevella defendants were aware of Mr. Burroughs’ advanced age and his reliance on their assistance, and, taking advantage of the fiduciary relationship that existed between the Fevellas and Mr. Burroughs, through undue influence and fraud persuaded Mr. Burroughs to execute a deed conveying the property to defendant Kurt Fevella," according to the lawsuit.

Kurt Fevella would not comment to the Star-Advertiser. In a response filed in Circuit Court to Melanie Burroughs’ lawsuit, the Fevellas acknowledged that Burroughs conveyed his property to the couple and that they cared for Burroughs before his death. They denied unduly influencing him.

Melanie Burroughs, 56, was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer in 2007 and was being treated in Florida. She had not visited her father for years in Ewa, where he lived since 1970 after retiring from the Navy.

"I spent most of my life here in Florida," she said by phone. "I told him I did not want the house because I didn’t want to live in Hawaii. But whatever it is that my dad expected me to have, that’s what I want, which is the majority of his estate, whatever that may be, including the proceeds of the sale of his house."

UH’s Elder Law Program receives a handful of similar calls every week, mostly from family members who fear their elderly loved ones have been unduly influenced to give up power of attorney, change their wills or bequeath their homes to someone outside the family, Pietsch said.

It’s frighteningly easy to get seniors in Hawaii to sign over their money and homes to relative strangers, Pietsch said.

Pietsch once brought an elderly woman and her caregiver into his law class so the woman could sign a blank piece of paper to illustrate that she was unable to understand the significance of signing an acutal document.

And once a person is dead, Pietsch said, it’s difficult to prove they were unduly influenced — or incapable of understanding — what they had signed.

Later this month state Rep. John Mizuno, chairman of the House Human Services Committee, plans to hold a legislative briefing to fine-tune a failed bill originally designed to make it harder to defraud seniors of their assets.

HB 2979 would have required the signing of a durable power of attorney to be witnessed by two independent witnesses for the power of attorney to be enforceable.

"You’re going to see more and more cases as Hawaii grays faster than any other state in the nation," Mizuno said. "

Legitimate caregivers who are rewarded with money, homes or other assets when a senior dies have nothing to worry about, Mizuno said.

"But if there’s no oversight and no way to prove the power of attorney was signed legitimately, it’s the wild, wild West," Mizuno said. "It becomes a perfect storm for financial exploitation."

Clarification: Elder Law program director Jim Pietsch brought an elderly woman and her caregiver into his law class to sign a blank piece of paper. An earlier version of this story said he brought the woman in to sign a document.