Contesting wills and trusts can be difficult because each document operates under a different set of rules. And each document has a different statute of limitations for contesting it. Timeline for California Will Contests You really cannot contest a California Will until someone offers the Will to be admitted into probate. Under California law, a Will […]
Yes, provided that relative has standing to sue. Any family member (or past beneficiary) who has been excluded from your Trust or Will can fight for inclusion after you die. But to do so they first must have standing. To have standing means they are an heir or prior beneficiary of yours and they have […]
The short answer is no. If you are named as the only heir to your parent’s estate, then you win—and all the excluded children lose. You do not owe them anything. Or at least, that is how it should work…in theory. But many cases are not that easy because the excluded children often do not […]
Last updated on 09/04/2024 What can you do when you find yourself left out of a parent’s Will? That all depends on the circumstances surrounding the creation of the Will in the first place. Understanding Inheritance Rights in California For starters, in California children do not have a right to inherit any property from a […]
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. Trust Funding: The Essential Step Trusts cannot be formed without property transferring from the hands of the owner to […]
Trust restatements allow a Settlor to replace the terms of a Trust without having to create a new Trust and transfer the title of all assets to the new Trust. In fact, it is the titling of assets that makes a restatement a much better approach in most cases. Restatements are used only when the […]
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 […]
Unlike Wills, you can have an enforceable Trust that is not written down—referred to as an oral Trust. The idea behind an oral Trust is that you can give property (other than real property) to someone as a “Trustee” and ask them to hold it in favor of a beneficiary. The problem, of course, is […]
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 […]
