Trusts and Estates Section

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. Read more

The California Lawyers Association (CLA) is pleased to announce that its position in its first ever amicus brief was confirmed by the California Supreme Court in the recent Barefoot v. Jennings opinion. The brief, filed by CLA's Trusts and Estate Section, addressed issues of standing in revocable trust cases as dictated by the Probate Code. Read more

The most significant change in the SECURE Act that estate planners must address with clients is replacement of the ability to stretch out mandatory withdrawals of an inherited IRA over the life of the beneficiary with a ten-year mandatory withdrawal period for all but “eligible designated beneficiaries.” Eligible designated beneficiaries consist of a surviving spouse, a minor child of the IRA owner until the minor reaches majority, a disabled or chronically ill beneficiary, and an individual who is not more than ten years younger than the IRA owner. 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

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

On November 6, 2019, Herbert A. Stroh, representing the Trusts and Estates Section Executive Committee (TEXCOM) of the California Lawyers Association (CLA), appeared before the California Supreme Court to argue CLA’s first case as amicus curiae in Barefoot v. Jennings. The case turns on an issue of standing which will have a significant impact on trust litigation in California. In its amicus brief, TEXCOM aimed to assist the Supreme Court in understanding the nature of trust contests, the applicable law, and the practical effects of conferring or denying standing to people who wish to challenge modifications to a trust that have the effect of disinheriting them. Read more