INSIDE THIS ISSUE

TRUSTEE’S OBLIGATION TO MAINTAIN IMPARTIALITY IN TRUST LITIGATION: ZAHNLEUTER V. MUELLER (2023) 88 CAL.APP.5TH 1294
By Denise E. Chambliss, Esq. and Clare Capaccioli Velasquez, Esq.
This article examines the tension between a successor trustee’s duties to defend the trust and treat beneficiaries impartially. Central to the analysis is a review of the Court’s ruling surcharging a trustee for trust assets expended defending against a beneficiary’s contest to validity of an amendment.
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SETTLOR INCAPACITY AND FILLING A TRUST’S "EMPTY CHAIRS"
By Jeremy J. Ofseyer, Esq.
What circumstances require the successor trustee to replace the settlor as trustee due to the settlor’s apparent incapacity? To whom does the successor trustee of a revocable trust owe duties upon the incapacity of the settlor? This article examines the application of Probate Code section 15800 and proposes answers to related questions.
[PAGE 18]

WHEN SHOULD AN IRC SECTION 645 ELECTION BE MADE? ALMOST ALWAYS!
By Lindsey Kernan, Esq.* and Simon A. LeBleu, Esq.
An Internal Revenue Code section 645 election can now be made to allow a "qualified revocable trust" to be treated as part of a decedent’s estate for federal income tax purposes. This article addresses the various benefits to making the election, the mechanics of making the election, and the few situations when the election may not be advisable.
[PAGE 27]

THE PROFESSIONAL FIDUCIARY PRACTICE ADMINISTRATOR – A NEW KID IN TOWN
By Anne M. Rudolph, Esq. and Ralph E. Hughes, Esq.
New Probate Code sections 2469 and 9765 provide a procedure that allows the court to quickly appoint a Professional Fiduciary Practice Administrator to fill a vacancy caused by the death or incapacity of a licensed professional fiduciary. This article is a summary designed to familiarize practitioners with the procedure.
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