Pacifica Attorney Allegedly Swindles 85-Year-Old Client in Marriage, Faces Disbarment

Pacifica attorney faces disbarment and is currently suspended from practicing law in California for allegedly tricking an 85-year-old client with cancer into giving her $339,000, entering into a phony marriage with him and cremating him against his will after his death.

State Bar Court Judge Pat McElroy suspended Lowney on Friday in San Francisco, finding her guilty of professional misconduct. It will be up to the California Supreme Court to decide whether she will be disbarred. 

Linda Lowney, who has practiced law in California since 1978 and has offices in the Linda Mar Shopping Center, was hired by Pacifica resident Thor Tollefson in July of 2002 to prepare his will and set up his estate trust. 

On or about August 10, 2005, court documents claim, Lowney and Tollefson became "romantically involved." She was 54 and he was 85 at the time.

On the same day, Tollefson called his sister and two nieces living in Norway, all beneficiaries of his estate, asking them if it was okay if he transfered some of the estate money to Lowney under the assumption she would use it to take care of him. 

In March and November of 2005, Lowney made two amendments to Tollefson's will that would eventually ensure that $339,000 of his estate funds would go to her after his death, rather than to his sister and nieces.

Tollefson and Lowney were married in San Francisco in January of 2006, using a confidential marriage license which allowed them to keep their marriage from being public. Charges filed against Lowney in the State Bar Court of California alledge that the two never lived together as husband and wife despite the fact that they did upon being married. 

Tollefson asked for a divorce that fall and died soon after moving into a senior care center in January, 2007. 

According to the charges, Lowney did not inform Tollefson's nieces that he had died and claimed that he had told her in 2005 that he was no longer opposed to being cremated even though his will indicates that his body be given to science. 

In a court document filed in June of 2010, Lowney denied all major charges against her and that she knew Tollefson had cancer.

The State Bar Court said it could be a while before the state Supreme Court hears Lowney's case.