A probate court concluded a husband was properly removed as a trustee of a family trust, and that the wife had authority to unilaterally bind the family trust by executing an agreement to see a basketball team owned by the family trust. The court instructed the wife to complete the sale.
Probate Court Refused To Honor Lien For Attorney Fees After Client’s Death.
An underlying action involved a claim to trust funds; that action was settled, and the settlement was approved by the probate court. But then the underlying plaintiff died too. The plaintiff in the present action was the lawyer for the underlying plaintiff. The lawyer had negotiated the settlement on behalf of the client who later died. […]
Has The Law Caught Up With Science?
Probate Code section 6450 governs the relationship of parent and child, stating in part, “for the purpose of determining intestate succession,” the “relationship of parent and child exists between a person and the person’s natural parents, regardless of the marital status of the natural parents.” Under Probate Code section 6453, subsection (b), subdivision (2), a […]
Conservator Ordered To Pay Pre Conservatorship Debt From Conservatee’s Estate.
Before the creation of a conservatorship, the now-conservatee committed a tort and a jury issued an award against the now-conservatee. An unpaid balance of $350,000 for punitive damages remains. Before judgment was entered, a temporary conservatorship was established and later became permanent. The judgment creditor petitioned the probate court to direct the conservator to pay […]
Nonsignatory Beneficiary Of A Trust Cannot Be Compelled To Arbitration.
Plaintiff, a nonsignatory beneficiary of a trust which was amended to her detriment shortly before her mother’s death, brought an action for financial elder abuse. The issue is whether an arbitration clause in a trust document can bind a nonsignatory beneficiary. The trial court denied a petition to compel arbitration. Noting that plaintiff beneficiary “has […]
Legal Capacity, Undue Influence, Financial Elder Abuse.
When defendant and decedent married in February 2005, decedent’s trust provided for his children, grandchildren and a former son-in-law. After the marriage, in May 2005, decedent executed a trust amendment providing defendant with 50 percent of decedent’s assets upon his death. Between 2005 and 2008, several other amendments were executed, resulting in defendant being left with […]
Sterilization Of Developmentally Disabled Woman Is Incidental To Medcally Necessary Treatment Ordered By Court.
A developmentally disabled woman suffers from numerous health problems, including an abnormally long and heavy menses and debilitating migraine headaches that usually coincide with the onset of her menses. After numerous other treatments for her severe menstrual bleeding and migraines failed, her doctors recommended a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. The trial court found Probate Code section 2357 […]
No Creditor’s Claim Required.
The executor of an estate filed a petition confirming the sale of decedent’s real property. California Regional Water Quality Control Board filed an objection without filing a Creditor’s Claim because the proceeds were subject to a stipulated court order that required the property owner to remediate a waste landfill. The executor argued the Water Board was […]
No Qualified Immunity For Police Officer In Wrongful Death Of Suspect.
A jury found a police officer caused the wrongful death of a suspect who died “through the unconstitutional use of excessive force” while in police custody at a hospital. The appellate court analyzed: “Taken as a whole, the combined effect of [the] evidence supports a finding that Macias punched and tasered a non-resisting and compliant man […]
Intentional Interference With Expected Inheritance [IIEI]; There’s A New Tort In Town!
![Homosexual Intentional Interference With Expected Inheritance [IIEI]](https://www.mellorlawfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/gay-men-2.jpeg.webp)
It’s called intentional interference with expected inheritance [IIEI]. Two adult males were in a long-term committed relationship when one was hospitalized and awaiting surgery. He asked his partner to prepare a will dividing his estate equally between his estranged sister and the partner. The partner prepared the will and sent a copy of it to the […]