While it may be funny to think about, you can notice your own client’s deposition if you wish to preserve his or her testimony prior to trial. This is a rarely used technique for rather obvious reasons, you do not usually want to disclose to the opposing party what your questions will be come time […]
Litigation is expensive. The chief reason for the high-cost is discovery. But discovery is a necessary part of preparing your case for settlement or trial, whichever occurs first. Motions, mediations, and trial all benefit from proper discovery being completed. Chief among the useful discovery tools is depositions. Depositions are your chance to ask questions directly […]
If you are going to file a civil lawsuit, you better know the burden you carry. This is particularly true in Trust and Will lawsuits, where burdens are constantly shifting back and forth depending on the claims being tried. In civil lawsuits we deal with two different types of burdens of proof: preponderance of the […]
If a Trustee breaches a duty, what is the amount for which they are liable? The answer may surprise you. Basically, the Trustee is chargeable with three things: (1) any loss or depreciation in value incurred by the Trust, (2) any profit made by the Trustee, and (3) any profit that would have been made […]
You can sum up a California Trustee’s duty of care in one word: Reasonable. Well that sounds…reasonable. To be precise, California Probate Code section 16040(a) states the standard of care this way: The trustee shall administer the trust with reasonable care, skill, and caution under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in […]
Do you have anything in your past that you are a little embarrassed about, or perhaps something unpleasant such as a nasty divorce, an arrest, a bankruptcy? Everyone has something in their past that they would like to forget. And yet, when you’re in a Trust or Will lawsuit the opposing party goes out of […]
Under California law you only have 120 days after receiving notice to challenge the validity of a Trust. (See Probate Code section 16061.8.) That is a bright-line deadline that cannot be changed once notice is served. Or is it? What if a Trust is revoked before death; is a 120-day notice effective to challenging a […]
In its simplest form, a Trust is merely the holding of money by a person for the benefit of someone else. When a friend hands you his wallet until he gets back, a Trust is formed. Trusts cannot be formed without property transferring from the hands of the owner to the hands of the Trustee. […]
Fun fact: Trusts are not testamentary documents. That means Trusts do not have to follow all of the strict rules required to make a valid Will. Wills require a written document, signed by the decedent and witnessed by two witnesses…not so for Trusts. Trusts fall into a broad category of estate planning vehicles known as […]
If your Trust is amendable, can you amend it with a handwritten change? The answer is probably yes, but maybe no. That’s sounds like a typical lawyer response. Let’s explore this a bit. Under Probate Code section 15402, a Trust can be amended according to the terms of the Trust. If the Trust terms are […]
