Blog Posts About Contested Wills

When is it worth it to sue for your inheritance? Lawsuits can be expensive, time consuming, and emotionally draining. But there are two big issues involved in every Trust and Will lawsuit: principle and money. By principle, we are referring to what is right and what is just. Of course,…

Undue influence is when a bad person exercises their power over and elderly person and gets the elderly person to give them extra assets, or to cut the other beneficiaries out. The problem that undue influence is generally difficult to prove directly. Generally, a person will not admit they coerced…

Is it legal to name a caregiver as a beneficiary of a Trust or Will? The answer is… maybe. Here are the things you need to know about naming a caregiver as a beneficiary of a Trust or Will in California: When a Caregiver is Named as a Beneficiary of…

You may find this surprising, but in California, children do not have an automatic right to inherit their parents’ assets.  And you’re not alone – a lot of people are surprised about that.  They’ll call up our office saying a bad actor changed the Will or the Trust and somebody…

There’s a difference between the lawyer who represents the Trust that you’re a Beneficiary of and the lawyer that represents Beneficiaries.  A very big difference. And the reason there is sometimes confusion is because somebody becomes the Beneficiary of their parents’ Trust and they believe they can call the attorney…

Should a Trustee have one or two attorneys that represents them in a litigated trust matter?  Let me give an example. You have a Trustee after Mom and Dad have passed away and the Trustee is administering the Trust as the Trust terms state.  But, maybe the Trustee’s brother and…

In California, most of our Trust laws, the laws that apply to Trustees, to Trust Administration, and to the distribution of assets to Beneficiaries, can be found in the California Probate Code.  You can find the California Probate Code by going online and searching Google for California Probate Code. One…

There’s a significant difference between Estate Litigation Attorneys and Estate Planning Attorneys. Obviously, by definition, one type of attorney handles estate planning and the other type litigates over the enforcement of those plans. For example, if your parents want to create a Trust, Will, and Durable Powers of Attorney, they’re…

In California, a printed Will (that is any will that comes out of a printer) must be signed by the person creating it, and by two witnesses. If the Will is not signed by two witnesses, then it is invalid. Many people think they can have the Will notarized, but…

Occasionally we see cases where a parent leaves all of their assets to a child with the understanding that the child will share the assets with the siblings. For example, a parent may name one child as a joint tenant on a house or bank account, and then expect that…