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May 27th, 2026
Hackard Law: California Estate, Trust, and Elder Financial Abuse Litigation
Publication Date May 27, 2026 in Estate Litigation
Who We Are and Why We Fight
I’m Michael Hackard, founder of Hackard Law. Over five decades of practice, I have fought for heirs, beneficiaries, and elder abuse victims across California – from Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles. Our firm is working to become the leading estate, trust, and elder financial abuse litigation firm in the state, and I do not take that goal lightly. I have written four published books on inheritance protection and financial elder abuse, and our team has produced more than 1,000 educational videos that have reached over seven million viewers. Every piece of content, every case, every courtroom appearance reflects a single commitment: making a real difference for people who need it most.
The clients who call us rarely do so by choice. They call because something has gone wrong – badly wrong – and they need someone willing to stand with them.
Hackard Law provides contingency fee representation for qualified cases, meaning no upfront costs to you. To discuss your situation, call us today at (916) 313-3030.
Quick Summary
Hackard Law is a California law firm that specializes in estate, trust, and elder financial abuse cases. It represents clients who have suffered from inheritance theft, caregiver fraud, undue influence, and overreaching trustees.
- The firm serves clients throughout California, including Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles.
- Hackard Law takes cases on contingency – clients pay no fees unless the firm recovers for them.
- Michael Hackard has written four books on financial elder abuse and inheritance protection.
- The firm has opposed some of California’s most aggressive estate litigators and prevailed in difficult cases
- Not every case is accepted – the firm evaluates each matter carefully before committing.
The Clients We Serve
Most people who contact Hackard Law did not plan to become litigants. They are adult children who discovered that a sibling manipulated their parent’s trust. They are beneficiaries who watched a trustee drain an estate for personal gain. They are families who learned, too late, that a caregiver had quietly redirected an elderly loved one’s assets – and rewritten their estate plan in the process.
These are not abstract legal problems. They are personal betrayals with lasting financial and emotional consequences. The financial toll grows with every month that passes without legal action, and the fracture in family relationships often runs too deep for any judgment to fully mend. That reality is why Hackard Law approaches each case with urgency.
Understanding your rights as a beneficiary is a critical first step. California law provides meaningful protections, but those protections must be actively pursued – they do not enforce themselves.
Case Pattern: Caregiver Influence Over a Trust
A family contacted Hackard Law after discovering that their elderly parent’s trust had been amended multiple times in the final months of the parent’s life – each amendment reducing the children’s share and increasing the caregiver’s. The pattern of isolation, dependency, and last-minute document changes is one the firm has confronted in many forms. Litigation focused on undue influence and lack of capacity produced a negotiated recovery that restored a meaningful portion of the estate to the rightful heirs.
What Hackard Law Litigates
Hackard Law handles a focused range of matters, all connected by a common thread: someone has taken, manipulated, or mismanaged assets that belong to someone else.
Elder financial abuse is one of the most serious problems the firm confronts. California law offers powerful remedies for victims of financial elder abuse, including the possibility of double damages and attorney fee recovery. When an elderly person is defrauded through undue influence, fraudulent transfers, or outright theft, early legal intervention can make the difference between recovering assets and losing them permanently. The firm’s resources on elder financial exploitation explain how these schemes typically unfold.
Trust litigation is the other pillar of the firm’s practice. Trustees have legal duties – to account, to distribute, to act in the interests of beneficiaries. When they fail those duties, or worse, use trust assets as a personal resource, litigation becomes necessary. Hackard Law has opposed some of California’s most aggressive defense firms in these disputes and has achieved results in cases that initially appeared to have long odds.
Fraudulent transfers in California probate are another area where the firm has developed substantial experience – particularly in cases where assets were moved out of an estate just before or after a loved one’s death.
Case Pattern: Trustee Self-Dealing
A beneficiary reached out after a trustee – also a sibling – had been managing the family trust for several years without providing any accounting. When records were finally obtained through litigation, they revealed a pattern of payments to the trustee’s personal business, loans that were never repaid, and real estate transactions that undervalued trust property. The case resolved after forensic analysis exposed the full scope of the misconduct.
High Expectations, Honest Results
Hackard Law operates with high internal expectations. That means the firm does not take every case offered. Far more cases are presented than accepted, and that is not a failure of capacity – it is a function of honest evaluation. Cases that lack sufficient merit, evidence, or recovery potential do not serve the client’s interests, and taking them would not serve the firm’s either.
It also means the firm does not promise outcomes. As attorneys, we are ethically required to advise clients that past results provide no guarantee of future performance. Facts differ. Courts differ. The development of any individual case carries its own risks and variables. What the firm can promise is preparation, commitment, and a willingness to take on difficult adversaries.
For those considering contingency fee representation, the firm’s guide on trust contingency fees explains how this model works and why it matters for clients who might otherwise be unable to access qualified litigation counsel.
A Long View on the Firm’s Mission
For decades, I have stood with families at some of the most difficult moments of their lives. I have seen what happens when a trusted person – a caregiver, a sibling, a co-trustee – betrays that trust. I have also seen what determined, prepared litigation can accomplish, even in cases where the early odds seemed unfavorable.
Discovery, forensic analysis, and the pursuit of accountability – these are not just legal strategies, but safeguards for families threatened by undue influence and fraud. A steadfast commitment to truth restores what dishonesty tried to steal. That is the work, and it is work worth doing.
Hackard Law wants to be more than a litigation firm. The books, the videos, and educational resources – all of it reflects an aspiration to help people understand their rights before a crisis forces them to act. If you are already in a crisis, we are ready to help with that too. Learn more about guarding against elder financial abuse and what California law allows you to do when someone has taken what was not theirs.
Key Definitions
- Elder financial abuse: The wrongful taking, concealment, or appropriation of an elder’s money, property, or assets, often by someone in a position of trust.
- Undue influence: Pressure or manipulation that overcomes a person’s free will, often used to change estate planning documents in favor of the influencer.
- Trustee: A person or institution appointed to manage trust assets for the benefit of named beneficiaries, subject to fiduciary duties under California law.
- Fiduciary duty: A legal obligation to act in another person’s best interest, including duties of loyalty, care, and full disclosure.
- Contingency fee: A fee arrangement in which the attorney is paid only if a recovery is obtained – no upfront cost to the client.
- Fraudulent transfer: A transfer of assets made with the intent to defraud creditors or rightful heirs, which may be reversed by a court.
- Undue influence presumption: Under California law, certain relationships trigger a legal presumption of undue influence, shifting the burden to the alleged influencer to prove the transaction was fair.
- Trust accounting: A formal record of all trust income, expenses, and distributions that a trustee is legally required to provide to beneficiaries.
- Capacity: The legal and mental ability to understand and execute estate planning documents; a lack of capacity can be grounds for invalidating a trust or will amendment.
- Early legal intervention: Acting quickly after discovering financial abuse to preserve evidence, freeze assets, and prevent further harm.
What to Do Next
- Look for signs that a trust or will was changed under suspicious circumstances, especially near the end of a loved one’s life.
- Get copies of trust documents, amendments, and any recent deeds or financial account changes as soon as possible.
- Look into whether a caregiver, new companion, or recently favored family member had unusual access to your loved one.
- Try to avoid confronting the suspected party directly before speaking with an attorney – it can complicate the legal process.
- Document everything: dates, conversations, observations, and any financial transactions you are aware of.
- Try to avoid delay – California has statutes of limitations that can bar claims if too much time passes.
- Look for an attorney who handles these cases on contingency, so cost is not a barrier to protecting your rights.
- Review the 5 things California trust beneficiaries must know before your first consultation.
- Call Hackard Law at (916) 313-3030 to discuss your case with an attorney who handles estate, trust, and elder financial abuse litigation throughout California.
Visit our contact page to reach us online and schedule a consultation.
CALL THE SAGE | When Experience Matters, Families Listen
🏛️ We practice California trust & estate & elder financial abuse litigation
⚖️ We represent heirs, beneficiaries, and elder abuse victims
🎥 1,000+ educational videos | 7 million+ views | 4 published books
🎯 “After thousands of cases, I see the pattern others miss.”
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Michael Hackard is the founder of Hackard Law, a California trust and estate litigation firm with more than five decades of experience protecting the inheritance rights of families across Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Los Angeles. He is the author of four published books on inheritance protection and has produced more than 1,000 educational videos with over seven million views.