What Happened To Mom & Dad’s House? | CA Estate & Trust Litigation
- July 17, 2017 - Estate Litigation, Trust Litigation,
What happened to Mom and Dad’s house? We’re estate, trust and elder financial abuse litigators. We’ve heard this question asked of us time and time again. Why? Well, family house transfers are often ground zero for estate and trust fights. The facts change, but the parties, transfer techniques, and general family shock at learning of the living or estate transfers follow certain patterns. So how do these house fights develop? Your mom or your dad is a widow or widower. He or she lives alone or with an essentially dependent adult child. The adult child may be on a Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability program. Many times the adult child has an alcohol or substance abuse problem. Your elderly parent is vulnerabl[...]
Continue ReadingChoosing Probate or Civil Court | California Trust Litigation
- June 29, 2017 - Estate Litigation, Trust Litigation,
California superior courts have both probate departments and civil departments. Some cases may be filed in either the probate or civil department. There are also cases like financial elder abuse that may be filed in the civil department or the probate department. The probate department exercises jurisdiction over proceeding brought under the probate code. There is generally no right to a jury trial in probate proceedings. On the other hand a plaintiff in a civil case has the right to try issues before a jury. This right is enshrined in our California Constitution that states “Trial by jury is an inviolate right and shall be secured by all ...” We file and try elder financial abuse cases in the civil departments of the superior court.[...]
Continue ReadingFalse accusers should be held accountable for their actions when they commit elder financial abuse and hurt innocent people. So when a child of an elder alienates his mother or father against his siblings who are fellow beneficiaries, and as a result there is elder financial abuse, the false accuser is responsible for the harm. Now let me tell you the story of what often happens in Sacramento, Alameda or Los Angeles financial abuse cases. An elderly parent is vulnerable to the undue influence of someone close – in many cases a child – one of two or more siblings. The parent may lack capacity or may simply be sick, disabled, injured, or aged. The parent may lack education, with impaired mental abilities, have emotional distress or be d[...]
Continue ReadingLA Trust Beneficiary Rights | Contingency Fees
- June 21, 2017 - Trust Litigation,
Trust beneficiaries in Los Angeles have specific rights that are protected under California law. That means when your rights are violated, wrongdoers must be held accountable. Every day LA’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse is host to numerous estate and trust litigation disputes, and many of these cases revolve around the misbehavior of a trustee or fiduciary against a beneficiary. According to California Probate Code 16060, trustees have a legal duty toward the beneficiaries of a trust. It is incumbent upon trustees to keep beneficiaries “reasonably informed of the trust and its administration.” A trustee must also administer the trust and its assets “with skill, care and caution, solely in the interests of the beneficiaries.” When a tr[...]
Continue ReadingChurning Life Insurance | Elder Financial Abuse
- June 20, 2017 - Life Insurance Beneficiary Litigation,
A recently published California case identifies the vulnerability of elders to financial abuse through life insurance schemes like churning. The California Insurance Code provides in part that anyone “engaged in the transaction of insurance” with an elder owes that person “a duty of honesty, good faith, and fair dealing.” Now to be fair, not all life insurance agents should be tarred for the sins of the few. That said, the identification of wrongful practices can help those who protect our senior citizens stay vigilant. Many life insurance policyholders have decades-old whole-life policies with large cash surrender values. Years ago I personally saw an effort by a life insurance agent to convince a near 90-year-old policyholder to [...]
Continue ReadingThefts from Trusts & Estate Fraud | Los Angeles Probate Litigation
- May 24, 2017 - Estate Litigation, Trust Litigation,
As the largest city in California, Los Angeles is ground zero for theft from trusts and fraud against the elderly, also known as elder financial abuse. Los Angeles County is home to a large senior population, and by 2020 it’s set to increase by 43%. With this figure in mind, families must ensure that their elderly loved ones are safeguarded against exploitation and undue influence. All too often I’ve seen cases of vulnerable elders who were tricked or pressured into changing their will or trust to overwhelmingly benefit one family member or an estate interloper. I’ve also witnessed how wrongdoers have hidden or altered estate and trust documents in order to hijack assets, property, and even entire houses that never belonged to them[...]
Continue ReadingNo one likes to be treated unfairly. We all have our stories when we’ve suffered an injustice, from being kids in school to our adulthood. And it’s no different when you’re a trust beneficiary whose rights have been violated. Los Angeles estate and trust litigation is a challenging field where you’ll need an attorney with experience and the right skills to safeguard your interests. At Hackard Law, we represent LA-area clients who have been frozen out of their inheritance – maybe a bad trustee has overstepped their bounds, or a wrongdoer has committed elder financial abuse. It’s our job to prevent any further harm to our client and to right the wrong. When potential clients call to speak with me, they’ve already been through a[...]
Continue ReadingLA Trust Beneficiary Litigation | Contingency Fees
- May 17, 2017 - Trust Litigation,
No one likes to be treated unfairly. We all have our stories when we’ve suffered an injustice, from being kids in school to our adulthood. And it’s no different when you’re a trust beneficiary whose rights have been violated. Los Angeles estate and trust litigation is a challenging field where you’ll need an attorney with experience and the right skills to safeguard your interests. At Hackard Law, we represent LA-area clients who have been frozen out of their inheritance – maybe a bad trustee has overstepped their bounds, or a wrongdoer has committed elder financial abuse. It’s our job to prevent any further harm to our client and to right the wrong. When potential clients call to speak with me, they’ve already been through a[...]
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