Case Alerts

Summary: LPS conservatees are similarly situated to persons found not guilty by reason of insanity and individuals subject to other involuntary civil commitments for purposes of the right against compelled testimony. Read more

Summary: Where a trust beneficiary held a contingent future interest in the trust’s residue, he was entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard on a petition eliminating that interest. Read more

Summary: A proposed conservatee must appear at the conservatorship hearing unless certain exceptions are met. Read more

Summary: A former beneficiary of a trust whose interest was eliminated by a subsequent amendment has standing to challenge the subsequent amendment in the Probate Court. Read more

Where the decedent kept a “permanent record” listing lifetime gifts to his children, the gifts were properly treated as advances on inheritance and deducted from at-death transfers under the trust. Read more

Summary: A decedent’s will can contain clear and convincing evidence to defeat the presumption of a right of survivorship to a joint tenancy account. Read more

Proposed LPS conservatees do not have a constitutional right to refuse to testify at their own conservatorship trials, as they are not similarly situated to, or considered, criminal defendants. Read more

Summary: In an action to reappoint an LPS conservator, the petitioner need not prove as an additional element that the conservatee is unwilling or unable to voluntarily accept treatment. Read more

Summary: The timely filing of a creditor’s claim tolls the one-year statute to bring claims against a decedent, and the creditor then has 90 days to bring suit after the rejection of a creditor’s claim, regardless of how long after the expiration of the one-year statute such rejection occurs. Read more

Summary: A finding of bad faith is a prerequisite to an award of double damages under Probate Code section 859 based on a theory of undue influence. Read more