Many areas of the law require attorneys to meet and confer. What does that mean? It means the lawyers must communicate the basis for their disagreement on a legal issue and make a meaningful attempt to reach a resolution. You may be surprised to learn that lawyers rarely agree on anything, but the law still […]
One of the benefits to hiring an attorney or law firm on a contingency fee basis is payment of the out-of-pocket costs. A contingency fee agreement is one where the attorneys agree to represent the client in return for receiving a percentage of the amount recovered for the client. For example, if the attorney recovers […]
Statutes of limitations are the deadlines by which you must file a lawsuit. We are seeing more and more people miss the filing deadline in the California Trust and Will Litigation arena. We think the reason this is occurring is because the statutes of limitations for Trust and Will issues are complicated. There is not […]
Does a beneficiary have to sign a release? Under Probate Code section 16004.5, a Trustee cannot require a beneficiary to sign a release in exchange for making a distribution of Trust assets, provided that the Trust distribution is required to be made as stated in the Trust document. For example, if you are entitled to […]
There are a few exceptions to a Trustee’s duty to provide you with a Trust accounting no matter what type of beneficiary you happen to be. Where the Trust Document Waives an Accounting. If the Trust document waives an accounting, then a Trustee does not have to provide an accounting. This is an important exception, so […]
You are entitled to an accounting…maybe…depends. The truth is some beneficiaries are entitled to an accounting as a matter of right, while other beneficiaries may obtain an accounting at the discretion of the Court, but not as a matter of right. Right to Reasonable Information For starters, all beneficiaries are entitled to reasonable information from the […]
What are the upsides and downsides of contingency fee agreements? It is important for you to know the benefits and detriments to hiring a lawyer on a contingency fee basis. By contingency fee, we mean paying a lawyer a percentage of the assets that the lawyer recovers for you in your lawsuit. The big upside is that […]
Contingency fee agreements give some beneficiaries access to legal representation when they otherwise would not have sufficient funds to pay a lawyer on an hourly basis. Typically, lawyers are paid based on their hourly rate. A lawyer will work so many hours a month on your case, and you pay them monthly based on that hourly […]
Under California financial elder abuse law, you must prove four elements to establish undue influence: (1) vulnerability of the victim, (2) apparent authority of the wrongdoer, (3) actions and tactics of the wrongdoer, and (4) an inequitable result. Two of these elements stand out over the rest: vulnerability and actions and tactics. Actions and tactics refers […]
Being named a successor Trustee does not necessarily obligate you to take action. While it is true that Trustees have a host of duties and responsibilities, those duties don’t arise until a Trustee agrees to act. Being named a successor Trustee in a Trust document does not obligate that person to act. If, however, the successor Trustee either […]
