We invest elder caregivers with a remarkable amount of power. With power comes responsibility. So, it’s troubling, even tragic, when this responsibility is abused. And, elder abuse, including elder financial abuse, is magnified when marriage is used for financial exploitation. I’ll share a couple stories - stories drawn from real cases – but changed in part to preserve privacy. So, let’s start with Roger, an 82-year-old retired teacher. Roger was single for 81 years. Roger’s closest family members are his two sisters, Mary and Molly. They are named as equal beneficiaries in Roger’s 2014 trust. A few years later, 2016, Roger was diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Roger’s failing memory, impaired mobility, and[...]

Trust litigation is about mending unfinished business. And, wronged beneficiaries are often the victims of the unfinished business. Trustees have a duty to direct “the trust solely in the interest of the beneficiaries.” Trustees who shirk this duty invite legal action from harmed beneficiaries. When trustees fail to respond to grievances, lawsuits ensue. And, lacking timely resolution, family assets can melt away in endless disputes. This is not the goal of advocacy. In the words of Sun Tzu: “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” Trust & estate litigators should understand this. Trust lawsuits, at their best, are about tying up loose ends. These loose ends stem from a variety of trustee failures, among them[...]

“To my family I leave nothing.” I wince at the words. I represent family members in estate battles. We focus on elder financial abuse, will contests and trust beneficiary abuse cases. And, I hear words like this all the time. It’s one thing to hear them, another to feel them. My clients feel them. Hurt, devastation, and surprise are just some of the feelings. The quest for justice comes a little later. Like in this case: I’ll call her Pam. Pam calls me. She shares her mother’s handwritten will. She also shares the story about the will. Sally, Pam’s elderly mother, penned the words in 2016. Sally was not well. She was forgetful. Pam says her mom’s voice often drifted off in midsentence. And, Sally was isolated. Isolated from[...]

Trust gone missing – what do I do now? This problem isn’t that rare. An elderly relative passes away, and family members cannot find a trust. No will, no trust, no plan of estate assets distribution. No designation of estate representative. The state steps in and intestacy rules apply. For many, this is not the preferred outcome. On the other hand, situations arise where there is strong evidence that a trust exists even if a copy of it cannot be found. If this is the case, what do you do? Start with looking at ownership documents. Look at title to real property. You may find that the title to your relative’s property is in her trust’s name. Here’s an example: Your relative’s name is Daisy Flowers. Daisy lived in San Francisc[...]

When you’re a beneficiary of a trust or the heir of an estate, you expect fair treatment – that your rights will be respected, and that everyone will receive their distributions according to an ordered plan. That is a reasonable expectation, but wrongdoers can still exploit system failures and hijack trust assets for their own benefit. I’ve seen it happen many times, and I’ve put a stop to it many times on behalf of clients whose beneficiary rights had been violated. These are high-stakes estate disputes, and nowhere are the stakes higher in California than in Santa Clara County. Areas like Palo Alto, San Jose, Mountain View and Santa Clara are still heavyweights in the housing market. Right now the average home price is $1.26 mill[...]

It takes little imagination to understand that the life of a transgender person is full of family and emotional challenges. These challenges reverberate throughout relationships. And, at times intrude into the administration and litigation of trusts and estates. Transgender people who formed families after transitioning have faced challenges to their legal status as parents. There are some extreme cases, now over thirty years old, where courts have terminated parents’ parental rights, completing severing the parent-child relationship, because they were transgender. In 1986, the Nevada Supreme Court held that a transsexual “in a very real sense, has terminated her own parental rights as a father. It was strictly (the male’s) choice t[...]

You know, or you think that you know, that you’re a named trust beneficiary. You may be a little unsure because it’s not always easy to know or find out if you are a beneficiary of a family trust. Unless you’re a professional in estate planning and fully familiar with its basics, you are likely to have numerous questions. Among them: What is the definition of a beneficiary of trust? Is the trust irrevocable? Is the trust revocable? What are the shortcomings of an irrevocable trust? A revocable trust? Is an heir also a trust beneficiary? Is a settlor the maker of a trust? Is a settlor the same as a trustee? So, let’s start with trust basics. Living trusts are becoming ubiquitous, even for the middle class. Testamentary trusts are al[...]

A frequent issue arising in California estate and trust litigation involves joint accounts. Trust and estate litigators regularly address the common questions concerning joint accounts in disputed estates: What is California law on joint bank accounts? Does the form of ownership of joint accounts matter? How does California treat joint savings accounts? Does California freeze joint bank accounts when one person dies? A recent California Court of Appeal case is helpful in explaining the law as to the accounts. For these blog purposes, I’ll draw from the case’s generalities and minimize some of its factual specifics. Ralph, the father of three daughters, passed away in December 2009. A will, trust and joint bank account existed[...]

Late November mornings in Northern California are turning cold. It’s near Thanksgiving. It’s a time that stirs memories. As I got up this morning, I thought, “it is really cold.” And, soon thereafter a song started playing in my head. Psychology Today calls these earworms. They’re the song version of “Groundhog Day.” And the song snippet that came uninvited to my mind was … The Rolling Stones “She’s So Cold.” OK, I thought – lets have some fun with this. So, I’m going to use a few song snippets to describe some trust cases where the prime wrongdoer was really cold. This is not a pass for men who do similar acts. It’s just that the Rolling Stones songs says: “she’s so cold” – not “he’s so cold.�[...]

Alameda County represents most of the East Bay and is home to 1.6 million people. It’s California’s seventh largest county and includes the cities Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, San Leandro, Pleasanton and Castro Valley. Alameda County also has plenty of Baby Boomers, with 12.7% of residents aged 65 or over. Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation in history. That means that there will be a massive transfer of wealth in the coming years as Boomers make estates and trusts for their loved ones. Trusts are the most frequent method of wealth transfer for a wealthy estate. When circumstances are right, a trust maker will have property and assets transferred in an orderly manner to rightful beneficiaries. That’s the majority of cases – [...]