Sacramento Trust & Estate Litigation Attorney

California is home to approximately 720,000 people living with Alzheimer's disease—making it one of the top three states in the...

The question I hear most often from families facing elder financial exploitation is: "Is it worth suing?" The answer depends...

After three decades of litigating elder financial abuse cases, I've learned that exploitation rarely comes out of nowhere. It follows...

A power of attorney is supposed to protect your loved one. It's designed to ensure that when an aging parent...

Elder financial exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an older adult's funds, property, or assets. It is the...

I’m Mike Hackard from Hackard Law. 2025 was quite a year, and we can reflect on its ups and downs...

Elder financial abuse is one of the most devastating and underreported forms of exploitation in California. It often occurs at...

Wealth doesn’t just pass down through inheritance; it passes through values, structure, and foresight. In California, where family businesses, real...

I’m Mike Hackard with Hackard Law. It’s been a busy year in California trust and estate litigation – and I’m...

Estate disputes rarely arise overnight. They develop gradually through emotional tensions, financial inconsistencies, or decision-making patterns that often go unnoticed...

Estate planning is never truly finished; it’s a living framework that must evolve with time. From sweeping tax reforms to...

Real Estate Market Downturns and Their Effect on Estate Valuation In California, real estate often forms the cornerstone of family...

When a loved one passes, their executor holds immense responsibility: managing assets, paying debts, and ensuring that beneficiaries receive what...

When families suspect mismanagement, missing funds, or financial manipulation within an estate or trust, forensic accounting becomes essential. This specialized...

Trust and estate disputes often strike at the heart of families, blending financial complexity with deep emotional tension. Traditional litigation,...

Even the most carefully built fortune can vanish within a few generations. Studies show that nearly 70% of families lose...

Estate planning is not only a matter of law and finance; it is also a deeply human process. Beneath the...

Estate and trust planning used to rely on paperwork and traditional family structures. Now it faces major changes. Technology is...

Family businesses are the backbone of California’s economy, and often the cornerstone of family identity. Yet studies show that fewer...

  For many families, wealth represents more than financial security; it reflects values, purpose, and the desire to make a...

Modern estate planning no longer focuses solely on real estate, investments, and business interests. The digital era has expanded what...

Effective estate planning goes beyond distributing wealth; it’s about protecting it across generations. For California families, tax strategies in multi-generational...

Contesting a trust in California could be a complex matter that requires you, as the petitioner, to meet specific legal...

If you are on the lookout for someone to help you manage your assets, you may have been referred to...

As a trustee, your actions are often closely examined—especially when beneficiaries disagree, question your decisions, or suspect mismanagement. Taking proactive...

Wealth does more than create opportunity; it also tests values, relationships, and judgment. In California, families with significant assets face...

Even the most carefully structured trusts can face conflict. Over the decades, family relationships change, financial conditions shift, and differences...

In California, multi-generational trusts are designed to preserve family wealth, ensure financial stability, and promote fairness across decades. However, trust...

Families who create long-term trusts often do so with the best intentions: to protect wealth, reduce taxes, and maintain family...

Families throughout California are placing greater emphasis on multi generational trust planning to preserve wealth, protect assets, and prevent family...

A family on the edge In a quiet Sacramento neighborhood, the Collins family stood at a crossroads. Their father had...

Sacramento Homes: More Than Brick and Mortar Walk through Curtis Park’s tree-lined streets or past the stately homes of East...

A New Frontier in Estate Law Everything is changing—how we communicate, bank, shop, and even plan our futures. But one...

As a Sacramento family lawyer, I have witnessed that the true legacy of a family is not in dollars, but...

The Subtle Strength of Revamping Your Will: How Small Adjustments Avoid Big Conflicts The Will That Forgot Families often believe...

The Conversation That Changes Everything Most people think estate planning is about documents, stacks of paper, complicated signatures, and lawyerly...

A New Type of Legacy Ten years ago, families in Sacramento considered inheritance in traditional terms: houses, bank accounts, pension...

A Discovery in the Attic On a cool spring morning, sunlight filtered into Caroline’s late uncle’s attic. She stepped inside...

A Vanishing Inheritance in Sacramento A Family’s Quiet Shock Linda gripped the cool banister of her father's East Sacramento house,...

A Sacramento Story of Words That Went Too Far Not every inheritance dispute starts with greed. Sometimes, it starts with...

A Sacramento Tale Buried in the Ledgers When a loved one is lost, mourning enters the room before comprehension. Families...

The Trusted Role That Can Go Terribly Wrong Every estate begins with trust—trust that the person chosen to carry out...

When Silence Replaces Stewardship Back in spring 2021, a Sacramento woman named Teresa called our office. She'd been waiting a...

The Call That Changes Everything It starts with one phone call for many Sacramento families. A father dies. A mother's...

Why Timing Matters in Probate In probate, time is not a silent observer; it is the arbiter. Many trust that...

A Sacramento Family's Hidden Struggle Family caregiving is usually an act of love, but sometimes it slowly turns into financial...

Margaret’s Story Margaret’s kitchen always smelled of cinnamon and coffee, especially on Sundays. She’d often sing while rolling dough, sunlight...

A Place of Memories, Now a Source of Division Every Sacramento neighborhood has its quiet sentinels – homes that hold...

A Question That Hangs in the Air After Every Verdict Every courtroom story leaves two legacies. One gets written in...

A Sacramento Family Divided Years ago, a blended Sacramento family came to me, burdened by a familiar and painful reality:...