Trusts and Estates Case Alerts

Where no probate estate is opened and the trustee does not elect the optional trust claims procedure, a creditor may file suit to recover on a settlor’s debt from the trust estate without first having to proceed against the settlor’s probate estate. Read more

A civil complaint was “an action to contest a trust” within the meaning of Probate Code section 16061.8 because “the practical effect” of the complaint was a challenge to the validity of the trust instrument, and it was therefore subject to the 120-day deadline. Read more

Caregiver that received free room and board in exchange for care services qualified as a care custodian and the decedent’s donative gift to her was subject to presumption of fraud or undue influence. Read more

Monetary sanctions were properly awarded in connection with a conservator’s motion to quash a subpoena that was overbroad, violative of the conservatee’s privacy rights, and issued for an improper purpose.   Read more

A stepchild may establish a right to intestate succession where the decedent receives the child into their home and openly holds out the stepchild as their natural child. Read more

In addition to a trustee or beneficiary, an interested person may have standing to respond or object in a trust proceeding. Read more

Where the trust provided the trustee with “sole discretion” to make any distribution in cash or in-kind, it was error for the probate court to interpret the trust as requiring an immediate sale of real property and distribution of the proceeds.  Read more

Time limits in Probate Code section 8226(c) for filing a petition to probate a will only bar the will proponent if that proponent received pre-hearing notice of a prior, competing petition for probate. Read more

Bank owed law firm a duty of care based on the special relationship it had with the law firm as an intended beneficiary of a court-ordered estate blocked account. Read more

A personal representative may not represent the estate in propria persona even in the probate action on claims pursued for the benefit of the estate’s beneficiaries. Read more