Panelists will address the applicable law and procedures for suspension and removal of Trustees.

In the 2014 decision of Lintz v. Lintz  the court applied Family Code section 721 to estate plans.  Section 721 imposes a duty of the highest good faith and fair dealing on spouses, and a statutory presumption of undue influence arises wherever one spouse obtains an advantage over the other.  Probate Code section 21385 was amended to remove the presumption created by the Lintz case.  Other legislation passed protects elders from aggressive Care Custodians.

In fulfilling their fiduciary obligations, trustees, conservators and other fiduciaries are often thrust into situations where they are required to act as an employer. From managing caretakers, issuing paychecks, setting schedules, to hiring and firing trust employees, this is perilous territory because California employers are saddled with a host of regulations they are expected to understand and follow precisely.

Alma Soongi Beck of Lakin Spears LLP will provide an overview of estate planning for LGBTQ People and unmarried couples, and its evolution over her 18+ years of practice in this area. The discussion will cover the evolving landscape of local, county, and state domestic partnership registration and recognition, property tax issues for people not married and not state-registered domestic partners, considerations for health care directives, and a practitioner’s perspective of planning in this area four years beyond the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v.
Hodges.

Despite a trend toward legalization of marijuana at the state level, the ownership of marijuana related businesses as trust or estate assets continues to pose unique challenges and legal risks in large part due to marijuana’s still-illegal status at the federal level and its heavily-regulated status in California.