Understanding the significance of trustee notice, as mandated by Probate Code Section 16061.7, is crucial in trust administration. This notice is required upon the occurrence of certain events, most notably, when a trust...more
Who’s your father for inheritance purposes in California? Family Code section 7540(a) states that “the child of spouses who cohabited at the time of conception and birth is conclusively presumed to be a child of the...more
We write today about probate law, premarital agreements and the importance of doing your homework. In Estate of Eskra (2022) ___ Cal.App.5th.____, the First District Court of Appeal upheld a Humboldt County Superior Court...more
Television shows and movies show a Will being read at a funeral, as if the Will is automatically valid and assets can be distributed immediately. Unfortunately, the probate process is more complex and time intensive. This...more
While still grieving the death of your mother, you receive a Notice from the Probate and Family Court informing you that your good-for-nothing brother has filed a Petition for Probate seeking to be appointed as Personal...more
The thrifty do-it-yourselfers among us might jump at the opportunity to transfer their family home to their kids while avoiding probate and the expense of creating a trust. Revocable Transfer on Death Deeds, or RTODDs, have...more
My colleague Hether Cahill previously discussed the use of a disclaimer exercised by a conservator for a single transaction. As Hether mentioned, disclaimers can be an excellent estate planning technique....more
When are delusions enough to invalidate an estate plan? The California Court of Appeal addressed that issue earlier this month in Eyford v. Nord (2021) ___ Cal.App.5th ___. The case involves a 90-year-old woman who favored...more
Many California trust and estate disputes involve the allocation of real estate amongst several beneficiaries. Mom and Dad, may they rest in peace, owned an upscale home in the Fab 40s neighborhood of East Sacramento, a sweet...more
Intentional interference with expected inheritance (IIEI) was recognized as a legal claim in California about eight years ago in Beckwith v. Dahl (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1039. Last week, the Court of Appeal issued the first...more
Providing for your children is one of the primary purposes of estate planning, but what happens to your carefully crafted trust if you had children you did not know about when you created the trust? Or, what if you have...more
A common misconception is that when you die with a Will, your heirs avoid probate. In California when you die with a Will and the total assets owned in your sole name exceed $166,250, your estate goes through probate (a court...more
It’s unremarkable that California courts require that notice be given to affected beneficiaries in trust and probate proceedings. After all, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no person will be deprived of life,...more
February 2020 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split-Interest Charitable Trusts - The February Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs,...more
A primary purpose of estate planning is to determine what a child will inherit (if anything) upon a parent’s death. But what about a gift given during the parent’s life? Is it an advance on the child’s inheritance, like...more
One of the most common questions clients ask is whether they need a trust. While they are usually seeking a “yes” or “no” answer, as with most legal questions, the correct answer usually is, “It depends.” The answer depends...more
In the absence of a trust that allows assets to pass without opening probate, the California probate process lasts for at least six months and can run much longer depending on the size of the estate and the nature of assets....more
No contest clauses are included in wills and trusts to discourage dissatisfied beneficiaries from challenging the document’s validity. Because enforcement of these clauses results in disinheritance, the California Probate...more
Under California law, the laws of intestacy control who inherits when a person dies without having prepared a valid will or trust. These rules can be complicated particularly as remote or even unknown blood relatives may have...more
Many California will and trust disputes arise from ambiguity in the document with respect to who is entitled to an asset. Maybe the document was hazy from the start or perhaps circumstances have changed such that the rightful...more
When musician Prince Rogers Nelson died at the age of 57 on April 21, 2016, he had no estate plan in place, not even a will. We blogged that “You Don’t Have to Be Rich to Need an Estate Plan.” As the third anniversary of...more
Stepmothers are frequent characters in California trust and estate litigation, as they are in fairy tales and Disney movies. With about half of all marriages ending in divorce, there are many stepmother/stepchild...more
Preface to Case: The Texas Constitution states that “[n]o conviction shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture of estate.” Tex. Const. Art. I § 21 (emphasis added). The Texas Estates Code also states as much. Tex. Est....more