It’s 2017. Experts estimate that California’s population is approaching 40 million. Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Alameda, Contra Costa and Sacramento Counties are a very significant part of our state’s annual growth. These are also counties where Hackard Law regularly litigates disputed trust, estate and elder financial abuse cases. The breadth of our trust litigation practice in our nation’s most populous state provides a vista into what causes trust disputes to evolve into lawsuits. We receive dozens of calls from prospective clients every week. A significant number of these calls involve general trustee misconduct and more specifically trust and asset hiding. The failure and refusal of a truste[...]

Your parents owned a business and real estate. They successfully managed the business for decades and built up family assets. They put these assets into a trust where they remained as trustees during their lifetime. When they passed away, successor trustees took over. The successor trustees, through incompetence or even wrongdoing, are damaging your family’s economic heritage. They are failing to keep trust property separate and identified, they lack complete and accurate financial records, they are self-dealing, and they are failing to comply with California’s requirements for serving as trustees. Your parents intended for you to benefit from their lifetime of work and planning. You can see that their efforts – their legacy –[...]

The telephone call can be long or short. The message may be clear at the outset or only parsed out after a series of my seemingly unrelated questions. The caller’s emotions may be controlled or buffeted by a frustrating mix of disbelief and surprise from trustee mistreatment – even theft. The story elements are much the same – the caller is a child of a now-deceased parent who provided for the child in a trust. The trustee may be the child’s sibling, an appointed licensed fiduciary, a bank, or a securities company. Whoever the trustee is – the duty is the same – “The trustee has a duty to administer the trust solely in the interest of the beneficiaries.”[1] In 2000 the United States Supreme Court described this duty: “Perh[...]

Recent Judicial Council of California Court Statistics confirm that Los Angeles probate and mental health court trials total over 14,000 per year. Many of these trials involve beneficiary allegations of wrongdoing against a trustee or battles to remove an existing trustee. So what is the background that sets the stage for trustee disputes in LA? We start with noting that a living trust becomes irrevocable at the death or incapacity of its maker. New trustees are often appointed when the trust becomes irrevocable or when conflicts arise between a beneficiary and the trustee. Conflicts between former trustees and new or successor trustees often arise when the successor trustee requests some, if not all, documents in the possession of the f[...]

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[...]

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.[...]

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[...]

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[...]

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[...]

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[...]