I want to welcome you to The Big Challenge. We’ve done a lot of videos over the years where we talk about things like lack of capacity, undue influence. These are legal grounds for overturning a trust or a trust amendment. But we’ve never put together a comprehensive course that goes from start to finish. […]
When a Trust is created, the Trust creator (the “Grantor” or “Settlor”) needs to transfer all property into the name of the Trust. For example, if the grantor owns a house, the grantor must record a deed transferring legal ownership of the house into the Trust. What if the Trust is created but the property […]
What happens when you enter into a settlement agreement and the other party refuses to comply with the terms? There are provisions you can put into your settlement agreement to help you enforce that settlement agreement in the future. A settlement agreement is a contract. Contracts are enforceable. Most settlement agreements are solid documents. The […]
How do you prove your case? If you are trying to invalidate a Trust or Will, you have the burden of proof, which is the legal obligation to prove your allegations in court. You must come to court with admissible evidence. Not all evidence is admissible in court. Certain types of evidence are inadmissible, which […]
Formal accountings can take up a lot of your time. When we say “formal accounting” we are referring to a Trust accounting that is prepared according to the format rules of the Probate Code (section 1060) and filed with the court to court approval. Why do formal accountings take so long to resolve? First, it […]
When you hire a lawyer on contingency, that means that you are paying the lawyer a percentage of whatever is recovered. You essentially are making that lawyer a partner with you in your case. It’s no different in a lot of ways from having a business partner. Except now your business partner is a lawyer […]
It’s not very often that people talk about philosophies of attorneys. But if you look at a spectrum of attorneys, you’re going to find that different attorneys have different philosophies in terms of how they approach cases. They have different viewpoints. They have different ideas on how a case should be managed, the strategy that […]
How does a trustee resign? That depends on the terms stated in the trust document. Most trusts will have a provision that describes how a Trustee may resign from acting as Trustee. In most cases, the Trustee will give written notice of their resignation to the Trust beneficiaries and to the successor Trustees. Whatever the […]
When the time comes to distribute assets to Trust beneficiaries, there are a number of ways to do so. When a Trust consists solely of cash, then the distribution is easy. The Trustee can write a few checks, make the Trust distribution, and end the Trust administration. How to Distribute Trust Assets to Beneficiaries Outright […]
If you ask any Trust beneficiary, they will tell you that closing a Trust administration is easy. The Trustee gives the beneficiaries all the assets, and they all live happily ever after. But Trustees often see the end of the Trust with far more reservation because of their potential future liability. You see, Trustees don’t want […]
