Trust & Estate Litigation Blog

Bottom Line:If a trustee is stealing from a trust in California, they can be removed from their role, sued civilly to recover stolen assets, and prosecuted criminally for embezzlement. As a beneficiary, you have the legal right to demand a trust acco… Read More

Bottom Line Up Front: An estate litigation attorney represents beneficiaries, heirs, trustees, or executors in legal disputes that arise during the administration of a deceased person’s estate. In California, these attorneys handle will contest… Read More

Bottom Line Up Front: A trust litigation lawyer helps resolve legal disputes involving trusts, from trustee misconduct and breach of fiduciary duty to undue influence and trust contests. In California, both beneficiaries and trustees have legal right… Read More

California law gives beneficiaries the right to petition a court to remove a trustee who has breached their fiduciary duty, mismanaged assets, stolen from the trust, or made administration of the trust impossible through misconduct. Removal is one re… Read More

Probate litigation is almost always driven by one of four root causes: a dispute over a will or trust’s validity, a trustee or executor who isn’t doing their job, a family member who took assets they weren’t entitled to, or a genuin… Read More

Bottom Line Up Front: In California, a will or trust can be challenged on five main grounds: lack of mental capacity, undue influence, fraud or forgery, improper execution, and revocation by a prior valid document. Deadlines are strict. Missing them… Read More

Bottom Line Up Front: Yes, in California, you can contest handwritten changes (called interlineations) made directly to a trust document without triggering the trust’s no-contest clause. Under California law and the landmark case Cory v. Toscan… Read More

Bottom Line Up Front: Yes, in certain circumstances, a California trust beneficiary can sue an out-of-state trustee in a California court, even if the trustee has relocated to another state. The key is whether the out-of-state trustee had sufficient… Read More