Probate Blog

Key Trust Terms to Know Before diving into the case, it helps to understand a few common legal terms used in trust law: Settlor (or Trustor): The person who creates the trust and puts their property into it. Trustee: The person or entity responsible for managing and protecting the trust assets according to the trust rules. Revocable Trust: A trust that the settlor can change, amend, or completely cancel at any time during their lifetime. Irrevocable Trust: A trust that cannot

When someone passes away, families usually focus on grieving and planning a memorial. But legally, a lot of administrative work has to happen behind the scenes. Property must be transferred, houses need to be sold or reassigned, and government agencies need to be notified. In California, a specific part of the state's legal code—Division 2, Part 4 of the Probate Code (Sections 200 through 217)—controls how the state officially tracks and processes a person's death. Let’s brea

If someone commits a terrible crime against a family member to get their money, should the criminal still receive an inheritance? California law says absolutely not. Probate Code sections 250 through 259 cover what happens when someone commits homicide or abuses an elder. These rules ensure that bad actors cannot profit from their crimes. The "Slayer Rule" for Homicide If a person feloniously and intentionally kills someone, they lose all rights to that person's money and pro

When someone passes away owning real estate, bank accounts, or other property, tying up loose ends requires more than just grieving. In California, the Probate Code sets up clear rules for handling property transfers, clearing real estate titles, and fulfilling mandatory state notifications. Division 2, Part 4 of the California Probate Code (Sections 200–217) outlines the exact roadmap for establishing and reporting the fact of death. Here is what attorneys, personal represen

This is a where a trust beneficiary files a lawsuit against a trustee in both her official capacity and her individual, personal capacity the Trustee wins the dismissal of the lawsuit, and then asks the probate court to make the trust pay for her personal attorney fees. Can a trustee who is sued in her individual capacity recover personal defense fees using the probate court's broad equitable powers? A 2026 California court case called McKinley v. Harris answers with a firm n

Imagine a parent sets up a living trust, naming themselves as both the person who runs the trust (the settlor) and the person who manages it (the trustee). Years later, after that parent passes away, an adult child with a future interest in the trust steps forward. The child wants to look at every financial transaction, bank statement, and asset transfer from the past several years—long before the parent died. Can a remainder beneficiary demand an accounting for the time when

Imagine you are the executor of a deceased person's estate. You want to check the financial history of a trust to see what happened to the money. You ask the court for an accounting, and you start gathering records. Instead of letting you finish your investigation, the judge suddenly throws your case out of court at a routine status conference. No trial, no witnesses, and no warning. Is a probate judge allowed to dismiss a petition that way? A 2021 California court case calle

Imagine you are named in a will to get money from a trust. Then, the people in charge tell everyone to go to a mediation meeting to sort things out. You get the notice. But you decide to ignore it and stay home. Can the other people cut you out completely? A famous California court case called Breslin v. Breslin says yes. What Happened in the Breslin Case? A man named Don Kirchner passed away with millions of dollars in his trust. His paperwork listed several charities to get

When an aging parent alters their estate plan late in life to drastically favor one child over another—especially when health is failing and medications or outside pressure are involved—it frequently ends up in a fierce will and trust contest. In Masters v. Ries (2017) 2017 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2042, a California appellate court reviewed a trial court's decision to declare a father's will, trust, and asset designations entirely void due to undue influence. The Big Mistake:

When someone makes an oral agreement or a joint promise to leave their property to specific family members (like nieces and nephews) in their will, but later changes their mind and creates a new will or trust cutting those family members out, it triggers a major legal battle. However, trying to solve that fight in the wrong courtroom can get your case thrown out immediately. In Estate of Mullins (1988) 206 Cal. App. 3d 924, a California appellate court clarified a crucial jur

When a family member is suddenly cut out of a revocable trust by a late-stage amendment, can they challenge it in probate court—even though the final text of the trust leaves them with nothing? In Barefoot v. Jennings, the California Supreme Court answered a resounding yes, resolving confusion around trust litigation standing and protecting the true intent of settlors. The Big Mistake: Assuming Disinherited Beneficiaries Lack Standing When Joan Lee Maynord passed away, her

Imagine your partner of ten years is in the hospital, about to have risky surgery. He wants to sign his will right then and there to make sure you're taken care of. But his sister calls and tells you to hold off — she's got a better plan, a living trust, and her attorney friends are already on it. So you wait. He goes into surgery. He never wakes up the same. He dies without ever signing anything. And his sister inherits everything. That's not a movie plot — it's the real sto

Here's a question that sounds almost too simple to matter: if someone gets free rent and free meals in exchange for helping out around the house, are they getting "paid"? In most parts of life, most people would say obviously yes. But in one California courtroom, a judge said no — and that single word made the difference between a caregiver inheriting an entire estate or losing it all. That's the story of Robinson v. Gutierrez, decided by a California appeals court in Decembe

Some legal cases read like a mystery novel. Butler v. LeBouef, decided by a California appeals court in 2016, is one of them — complete with a suspicious burglary, a forensic handwriting expert, and a pattern of behavior stretching back 25 years. At the center of it all was an attorney who, according to the trial court, used his law license to take advantage of a vulnerable, elderly man and walk away with a $5 million estate. Meet John Patton John Patton was a well-known inte

Picture this: your father dies, and you find out his caregiver rewrote his trust so that she — not you — gets almost everything, including the house. You sue to undo it. But by the time your case gets moving, the caregiver has already used trust money to buy a different property. Can you put a legal hold on that new property while the case plays out? That was the real question behind Newell v. Superior Court, a California appeals court decision from December 2024. It's a case

Imagine an elderly man signs over his house to the woman who cooks his meals and helps him with errands. He says he did it because "she deserves it" and "I like her." Is that a valid gift? Or is it the kind of deal California law says can never be trusted? That question sat at the heart of Jenkins v. Teegarden, a 2014 case decided by a California appeals court. The case gives a clear lesson about a rule meant to protect older adults from losing their homes and savings to the

Most California litigators know the basic rule: if your defendant dies mid-case, or if the person who wronged your client is already dead when you file, you generally have to present a creditor's claim in the decedent's probate estate before you can pursue any recovery. Miss the claim window and the case is usually dead too. There is a narrow but useful exception, and it lives in Probate Code Part 13, Chapter 1 (§§ 550–555). If the decedent was covered by liability insurance,

You'd think proving someone died would be easy — just show a death certificate. Usually it is. But California law has a whole set of rules for when proving death matters legally, especially for property. These rules are in Probate Code Part 4, and they cover three jobs: proving death in court, putting that proof on property records, and telling certain government agencies. Here's the plain-language rundown. Proving Death in Court A common example: two people co-own a house as

Most people picture inheritance as something you write down in a will. But what happens if someone dies without one? Does the government just keep everything? Not quite. California has a detailed rulebook for exactly this situation, found in Probate Code Part 2, called "Intestate Succession." Here's how it actually works, explained in plain language. First, What Does "Intestate" Even Mean? "Intestate" just means someone died without a valid will covering their property. It do

If someone dies without a will, California law has to figure out who inherits — and that often comes down to who counts as the closest relative. But "closest relative" isn't just a feeling. California actually has a math formula for it, written into Probate Code section 13. Here's how it works, explained simply. Why Does the Law Even Need to Measure This? When a person dies without a will (or when other relatives need to be identified for a legal case), the law often has to r