Trusts and Estates Case Alerts

Decedent Jerome Norman Post purchased a life insurance policy during his lifetime and named his then-spouse, Angela Post, as the primary beneficiary, and his sons from a prior marriage, Kenneth Post and Eric Post, as the contingent beneficiaries. Decedent was divorced at the time of his death, but he had not changed the beneficiary designation on his life insurance policy to remove his former spouse as the primary beneficiary. Read more

Beverly amended and restated her trust in 2013, naming herself as initial trustee and her son Thomas as her successor. In 2014, Beverly died and Thomas succeeded her as trustee. Beverly’s daughter, Nancy, filed petitions seeking, among other things, to invalidate the trust and to remove Thomas as trustee. After Thomas filed an inadequate accounting, the probate court suspended him and ordered him to turn over all trust records to the interim co-trustees. Read more

Decedent Norman Casserley and Paul Blazevich were neighbors. In 1997, Decedent was convicted of a crime and ordered to pay Blazevich restitution. Ten years later, Blazevich recorded the order and then obtained an amended order which increased the restitution award. In 2008, Blazevich executed and recorded an assignment of the original (but not the amended) order to his wife Emerita Cruz Joya. The amended order was not recorded until after Casserley’s death in 2015. Read more

On August 21, 2015, Gordon B., a 75-year-old disabled veteran, obtained an elder abuse restraining order against his neighbor, Sergio Gomez, based on various acts of misconduct including destruction of personal property, verbal abuse, obscene gestures, attempts to run over Gordon B. with a pickup truck, and setting off large fireworks on Gordon B.’s driveway. Read more

P.D. suffered from schizophrenia, and the Public Guardian sought an LPS conservatorship on the ground that P.D. was gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder. The trial court gave the jury two special instructions concerning the possible consequences of an LPS conservatorship. In the first special instruction, the trial court explained that an LPS conservator would have the right to require the conservatee to obtain medical treatment, to place the conservatee in a facility, and to receive and expend funds for the conservatee. Read more

In prior probate proceedings plaintiff Norman Bartsch Herterich made a claim to his father Hans Bartsch’s entire estate as an omitted child on the basis that Bartsch either did not believe, or forgot, that he had a child when he executed his will. The probate court granted summary judgment against plaintiff, and concluded that substantial evidence showed that Bartsch was aware of plaintiff’s existence when he executed his will. Read more

Cite as D070907Filed January 23, 2018, Fourth District, Div. One By Daniel C. KimWeintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin Law Corporationwww.weintraub.com “Grandfather” Gaynor died in 1983, leaving a trust estate split three ways, one share for each of his three children and their issue. Following litigation concerning management and control of the trust, the prevailing beneficiaries filed a surcharge petition against the co-trustees, and later added James Bulen based on his alleged de facto trustee status. The beneficiaries sued for breach… Read more

Kerkorian executed a will in July 2013 and married Una Davis about a year later. Two days prior to the wedding, he gave Anthony Mandekic $10 million dollars with instructions to give the money to Davis outside of Kerkorian’s estate or any testamentary transfer, and Mandekic complied. The day before the wedding, Davis signed a waiver, relinquishing any right to Kerkorian’s estate, including the right of an omitted spouse. Kerkorian died a year later, and his will did not name Davis as a beneficiary. Read more

The Trusts and Estates Section periodically sends email with New Case Alerts to its members. Here are the case alerts from 2017. Read more

The Trusts and Estates Section periodically sends email with New Case Alerts to its members. Here are the case alerts from 2016. Read more